The Safe Hiring Blog

Missouri Highway Patrol Opens New Criminal Record Access Site

The Missouri State Highway Patrol, Criminal Record & Identification Division, recently instituted a new program for the online access and retrieval of criminal records. The data includes felonies, misdemeanors, and selected municipal ordinance violations. The site is www.machs.mshp.dps.mo.gov. A user must create an account and use of a credit card is required. There is a $10.00 fee for each search plus a 'convenience fee' for each transaction. This convenience fee is $1.00 for 1 to 3 records, but when more than 3 records are ordered a sliding scale is used which varies from 3% to 2.6%. Once an account is created, users may submit the name, date of birth, and/or social security number of a person.

Requesters receive all Missouri open record criminal history information related to the individual - meaning convictions, arrests within 30 days, pending charges and suspended imposition of sentences during probation. All completed records are emailed in a PDF format to the user's account, usually within seconds unless further research is need to determine a disposition. For additional information, visit the site or call the Highway Patrol at 573-526-6153.

BRB Publications Launches New Web Page www.verifyprolicense.com Providing Access to State Licensing Boards

BRB Publications annouced today a new website that enables the public to verify individuals and businesses required to be licensed or have a certification or registration.

This free, new resource enables a researcher to check the representations people make to the public in day-to-day personal or business life. Users of www.verifyprolicense.com can choose an occupation or business category, by state, to find the direct address, phone number, and web page of the licensing or certification board. The resulting screen also provides a hot link to a License Validator to verify the license, permit, and registration information for individuals and or businesses. Another valuable feature of the search is that it often indicates when disciplinary action has been taken against an individual or business. This site is updated weekly and includes over 8,000 occupations with over 4,500 "name searchable" links providing immediate results.

According to BRB Publication’s CEO Michael Sankey, "Professional occupational licensing and non-voluntary certifications and registrations are generally a matter of public record, intended to protect the public from fraud and the misrepresentations of qualifications. It is simply a smart business practice to check on those with whom you deal, particularly if strangers come into a home, or if money and property are involved."

Also, the new website is dedicated to educating the public about The Sue Weaver C.A.U.S.E. (Consumer Awareness of Unsafe Service Employment).

About the Sue Weaver C.A.U.S.E.
On August 27, 2001, Sue Weaver was brutally raped and beaten to death by a twice convicted sex-offender. Ms. Weaver’s attacker was hired through a major department store to do service work in her home. In memory of Sue Weaver, C.A.U.S.E. was founded in 2004 as a non-profit organization that brings awareness and education to consumers and employers regarding the necessity of criminal background checks on all service employees, contractors and subcontractors hired to work in or near clients’ homes. For more information about C.A.U.S.E. visit www.sueweavercause.org.

The Story Behind the Story - Why States and Cities are Concerned about Second Chances for Ex-Offenders

There is an increasing awareness in the United States that ex-offenders are having difficulty obtaining jobs due to their criminal records.  Although employers have a duty to exercise due diligence to promote a safe workplace, civil rights laws also do not permit employers to automatically disqualify someone with a criminal record before considering if there is a business justification based upon the nature and gravity of the crime, the nature of the job and how long ago the job occurred.  As noted above, New York has added additional factors that can be considered.

As reported in past ESR newsletters, there have been efforts made to help ex-offenders obtain jobs. In its January, 2007 newsletter, ESR reported that a number of municipalities were not asking about past criminal records on the initial application. The short-hand name is “ban the box,” referring to the box on an application asking about past criminal conduct. The logic behind theses law is to ensure that applicants are considered for jobs based upon their qualifications and experience before the employer searches for criminal records. In addition, such protection also encourages ex-offenders to apply in the first place. Cities are concerned about the burden placed on them by large numbers of un-employed ex-offenders.  See:  http://www.esrcheck.com/newsletter/archives/January_2007.php#T1

In March, 2008, the ESR newsletter discussed a meeting of the Conference of Mayors in New York City on the same topic. According to a press release from the Conference;

“With 1 in 31 American adults in prison, jail, on parole or probation, the US prison system is in crisis. Hundreds of prisons nationwide are overcrowded to the breaking point, and high recidivism rates are largely to blame: 39 percent of prisoners have served three or more sentences. This cycling in and out of prisons is taking a devastating economic toll on already-vulnerable urban communities. At this critical moment, policymakers and experts are determined to come together and develop concrete solutions to making sure that people who leave prison do not reoffend and go back.”

See:  http://www.esrcheck.com/newsletter/archives/March_2008.php#T1

In the September, 2006, edition, ESR reported on lawsuits for discrimination based upon ex-offenders denied employment.   http://www.esrcheck.com/newsletter/archives/September_2006.php#T1

In passing the new laws in New York, the New York legislature gave as a justification that up to 60% of ex-offenders are unemployed one year after release and there is a strong correlation between unemployment and recidivism.  The legislature cites statistics that, in New York State, eighty-three (83%) of individuals who are in violation of the terms of their probation are unemployed.  See (legislative justification contained in New York A07847)

The bottom-line: As a society, we do not want to risk the lives and property of people by bad hiring decisions. Employers who fail to exercise due diligence can be sued, and innocent consumers, co-workers and members of the public can be the victims of workplace violence, theft or other wrongdoing.    

On the other hand, our society does not want to create a permanent class of unemployable ex-offenders who can never re-enter society and be productive. Automatic rejection of any applicant with a criminal record makes it very difficult for an ex-offender to get back into the workforce. Given that, on the average, it costs over $30,000 a year to incarcerate a prisoner in the United States, and that without a job it is very difficult for an ex-offender to become a law abiding tax paying citizen, it is critical that society gives everyone an opportunity to work. Unless ex-offenders can get a second chance, our society will spend more time and resources building prisons instead of schools, hospitals and roads.

The key is to understand that there is a job for everyone, although not everyone is qualified for every job. Employers should not overreact or react automatically because an otherwise qualified applicant has had difficulty in the past unless there is a business justification to reject the applicant. However, this pre-supposes that employers are doing proper screening and practice due diligence in their hiring.

It is also important for our society to help with the re-entry of ex-offenders by supporting programs and opportunities. In fact, the National Association of Professional Background Screeners (www.napbs.com) has donated money to such programs.

Background screening firms are often caught in the middle of this debate.  Although a screening firm does not make the hiring decision, screening firms are retained by employers to research potential criminal records.  A background screening firm should clearly advise employers that there are limitations on the use of criminal records.

The Good News and the Bad News About the FCRA

There is bad news and good news about the FCRA. The bad news is that the FCRA is a very complex and convoluted law that makes little sense if an employer sits down and tries to read it. Anyone wanting to read the law can go to the website for the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the federal agency charged with administering the law.

The good news is that there are only four basic steps an employer needs to know about the FCRA in order to begin an Safe Hiring Program while using an employment screening firm. These steps are explained in detail in Complying with the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) in Four Easy Steps©.
Here is an important fact: the FCRA kicks in when a pre-employment background pre-screening is conducted by the CRA. Therefore, if an employer works with a professional pre-employment background firm, the employer should select the firm based in part upon the background firm’s knowledge of the FCRA. A competent background firm should know how to fully comply with legal requirements of the FCRA, including preparation of all documents and forms needed for a fully compliant screening program.

Employers risk legal liability if the procedures utilized to check on applicants infringe on legally protected areas of privacy. By following the FCRA, an applicant's privacy rights are protected. For this reason, many legal experts advise employers to engage the services of an outside screening firm.

When engaging the services of a CRA, both the employer and the CRA must understand how critical it is to follow the FCRA. Failure to do so can result in substantial legal exposures, including fines, damages, punitive damages, and attorneys fees. Below is a brief summary of the substantial penalties involved for NOT following the FCRA.

© excerpt from The Safe Hiring Audit book.

Protecting Yourself When Inviting Workers Into Your Home — Five Easy Steps

By Les Rosen

Attorney at Law and President,
Employment Screening Resources

The news has been full lately of horror stories about innocent and unsuspecting people who opened their doors to home service providers or workers, and became the victims of serious crimes, including murder, right in their own homes. Many people routinely allow workers in their homes to perform a multitude of tasks. Workers come into homes to deliver appliances or furniture, act as nannies or caregivers, clean carpets, make home improvements, perform household repairs such as plumbing or electrical, and a multitude of other tasks.

Unfortunately, people can be particularly vulnerable in their own home. Help is harder to get, and if there are children, senior citizens or a disabled person at home, the risks can be even greater. Yet no state currently requires most workers who enter homes to have background checks. The results have been tragic.

Until there is a better solution, Employment Screening Resources (ESR) recommends the following five easy steps for people to protect themselves in their homes:

1. Deal only with reputable local businesses that do background checks. Before letting a stranger into your home, insist upon knowing the hiring polices of the company you are dealing with. A business should be able to tell you what precautions they take in hiring someone they plan to send inside your house. If the company you are talking to does not know the specifics, make them find out before you let their workers into your home. The important point is to determine if they check all past employers for AT LEAST 5 years (and 7-10 is better). Also, do they check for criminal records where a person has lived or worked for the past seven years. If the carpet cleaning firm, plumbing company or other service business will not give you the answers you need, then call someone else. It's just a matter of time before businesses get the message that safety is critical. In addition, being "bonded" is not always the same thing as being safe. The fact that a person has a bond does not mean that any firm has run a background check.

Also, don't let a small business tell you that it is too expense or difficult to practice safe hiring to make sure they are not sending a dangerous person into your home. That is simply not true. There are a number of steps any small business can take to make sure they are hiring safe and qualified people that cost next to nothing. It's just a matter of having a commitment to customer safety, as opposed to just hiring anyone they can find to do the job. See ESR article: "Five easy steps every small business can take TODAY to protect themselves and the public."

2. If you are hiring an individual and not a firm, what do you know about them? The best protection is to do past employment checks or reference checks on people who dealt with them in a business capacity. If you know that a person has been gainfully employed for the past few years, it lessens the possibility they have been incarcerated for a serious offense. Make sure they check out. If it does not seem right, then find someone else. A professional screening firm or private investigator can also be contacted to perform a criminal check.

3. For a sensitive position such as a nanny or caregiver, spend the money it takes to do it right. Contact a pre-employment screening firm or private investigator to check out the person. The most critical checks are past employment to verify where the person has been as well as a criminal check. When the well being of loved ones are on the line, the extra investment in security is well worth the small costs involved.

4. Use common sense. You may not check out everyone that comes to your home. A business for example, may come to your home just once to briefly drop something off or make a home repair. BUT use common sense. Have other people around if possible. Do not leave confidential information (such as checkbooks or credit card bills) or valuables lying around. In addition, do not tell store clerks or a person making a one-time visit anything confidential about your personal life, habits or customs that could make you a target in the future. For example, you don't need to tell a stranger if you are leaving town, or give information about your usual schedule, or if people you live with are away. And if you are uncomfortable for any reason, or something does not seem right, do not let the person in.

5. False sense of security--Be careful about do it yourself Internet solutions. There are some Internet sites that seem to suggest that they offer a national criminal record search. Unfortunately, a person may be lulled into a completely false sense of security if the name they are searching does not appear on one of these databases. In fact, the appearance of a person's name on a database is not an indication the person is criminal any more then the absence of a name shows they are not a criminal. Why? Because these Internet services are based upon databases that are best used by professional investigators or screening firms in conjunction with a number of other tools. The databases by themselves are not an authoritative source. Many of the Internet databases are names assembled from correctional or law enforcement databases, or from court repositories that are only as accurate as the individual counties that report records. There is no way to know if the records are complete, accurate or up to date, or if the record is even about the person you are looking for. Actual court files normally must be obtained to locate identifiers. In addition, there are large holes in the geographic coverage.

A consumer is much better off contacting a professional who knows how to utilize such databases, as well as numerous other tools in order to do a legal background check.

ESR is currently working on proposing legislation that would requires business to either engage in a background check of workers who go into homes or to provide consumers a notice that no checks been done. Until there is a better solution, consumers need to empower themselves by not hesitating to insist upon safety.

© Copyright 2008, Employment Screening Resources, Inc.  All Rights Reserved

Candian Court Records

Canadian court records are public information. The court system in Canada is similar to the U.S. system in that there is a federal court system with a supreme court and there are provincial systems with upper and lower courts.

An informative resource about the Canadian Court System, including how organized, is the Department of Justice. Go to www.justice.gc.ca/eng/dept-min/pub/ccs-ajc/.

Below are links to the judicial systems of each province. The links will lead to extensive information about each province’s system including some online accessible databases.

Alberta – www.albertacourts.ab.ca

British Columbia – www.courts.gov.bc.ca

Manitoba – www.gov.mb.ca/justice

New Brunswick – www.gnb.ca/cour/index-e.asp

Newfoundland – www.justice.gov.nl.ca/just

Northwest Territories – www.nwtcourts.ca

Nova Scotia –www.courts.ns.ca/

Ontario – www.attorneygeneral.jus.gov.on.ca/english

Prince Edward Island –  www.gov.pe.ca/courts

Quebec – www.justice.gouv.qc.ca/english/accueil.asp

Saskatchewan –  www.sasklawcourts.ca

Yukon –  www.justice.gov.yk.ca/prog/cs/courts.html

© excerpt from Business Background Investigations book.

Dispelling the Myths of Searching Public Records Online

The scope of information that exists online about people and businesses is staggering. If one needs to search for a public record or to do a background check, one merely has to Google and the problem is solved, right? Not so fast, according to authors Cynthia Hetherington and Michael Sankey. Their new book – The Manual to Public Records Online – reveals how public records and public record searching websites are not created equal, and teaches how to professionally use government and vendor online resources.

According to the authors, “There are four important truths about searching public records online from government agencies—
1. Less than 50% of the available public records from the government can be found online.
2. Government sites can be free or fee-based. Generally, the fee-based sites are more robust. 
3. Most free government public record websites contain no personal identifiers beyond the name.
4. Usually the searchable and viewable information found online is limited to name indexes and summary data rather than document images. Most access sites – especially the free access sites – permit the former, not the latter.”

The authors also present public record searching guidelines when using sites maintained by private entities. The public is often fooled by websites that tout misconceptions or unrealistic features. The Manual gives an information edge on how to evaluate sites and also on the best sites to use based on topic or record category.  The 600 pages of insight and evaluation place the reader on the right path to become an expert.

Cynthia Hetherington, a licensed private investigator and President of the Hetherington Group, is a nationally known speaker and she is author of Business Background Investigations.  Michael Sankey is the founder and CEO of BRB Publications, Inc. and he is author or editor of more than 60 publications including The Sourcebook to Public Record Information and The Public Record Research TIPS Book.

  The Manual to Public Records Online.

New Book Reveals How Employers Can Protect Their Businesses

A 25-Point Action Plan that Audits Hiring Practices...For Businesses of All Sizes

Tempe, Arizona –  Facts on Demand Press announces the publication of The Safe Hiring Audit by Lester S. Rosen, Esq., with Michael Sankey.  Hiring new workers is a complicated task. This new book teaches business owners and hiring managers how to perform an effective evaluation of their current hiring practices, identifies necessary changes, and instruct how to implement needed changes.

Laws associated with hiring have sought to achieve a balance between protecting privacy and due diligence. Using the Audit’s action plan of best practices assists a company’s compliance with key federal and state hiring laws, thus helping keep the company out of court and the workplace safe. According to Rosen, “All companies must periodically audit their employment practices to insure due diligence and compliance with discrimination and privacy laws, and determine whether an organization is using the current best policies, practices and procedures.” Rosen added that an effective audit can help establish legally defensible practices for dealing with potentially problematic applicants.

Author Lester S. Rosen is an attorney-at-law and founder of Employment Screening Resources (www.ESRcheck.com), a national pre-employment background screening firm. He also is the author of The Safe Hiring Manual, the first definitive book on background checks and safe hiring, and The Safe Hiring Course, the only online educational course available in the U.S. specifically for the background screening industry.  Michael Sankey is the founder and CEO of BRB Publications, Inc. (www.brbpub.com), and is author or editor of over 40 publications including The Manual to Online Public Records, The MVR Book, The Sourcebook to Public Record Information, and The Public Record Research TIPS Book.

More information on The Safe Hiring Audit.