capwell - critical background screening resources

Critical Background Screening

Resources For HR Professionals

In Florida

Presented by:

Robert Capwell – CKO

[email protected]

Employment Background Investigations, Inc. (EBI)

Today’s Presenter

Robert CapwellChief Knowledge Officer

Employment Background Investigations, Inc. (EBI)www.ebiinc.com

Past Chair - NAPBS

(National Association Of Professional Background Screeners)

* Presenter is not a licensed attorney - Nothing in this presentation should be deemed as legal advice. Readers should consult with their own legal counsel to determine their individual legal responsibilities.

Agenda

Today’s Presenters

Searching Criminal Records In Florida And Beyond

Searching For Sex Offenders

Employment And Reference Checking

FCRA Compliance

The Use Of Social Media For Screening

Using E-Verify As A Florida Employer

Education Fraud And The Impact Of Diploma Mills

Best Practice Take-A-Ways

Getting The Right Information Up Front

Q And A

Developing Policy And Use Of Criminal Information

Steps For FCRA Compliance

Step Action Taken

Certification by Employer

Employer signs a “Certification Form” that includes: “permissible purpose” , required consent, and will comply with FCRA and state equal opportunity laws and regulations related to the use of consumer reports

Disclosure and Authorization

Disclosure that a background check will be conducted (include nature and scope); include the name, address and contact info for the consumer reporting agency, obtain consent and date

Summary of Consumer Rights Under the FCRA

Provide the applicant/employee with this Federal Trade Commission prepared document

Investigative Consumer Report Disclosure

Further explanation of nature and scope if requested within five (5) days of applicant request

Pre & Adverse Action Follow all notification requirements

The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA)

Best Practices Discussion: Capturing Applicant Information

Information Obtained Paper Based Electronic Based

Complete Name, Alias, DOB, SSN, Passport #

Use additional pages to fill-in the blanks

The ability to upload additional information

Driver’s license Obtain a copy if possible

Copying and scanning

Address history Is it complete? The use of dates and forced fields

Criminal history disclosure (convictions and arrest records only) - (City of Jacksonville inquiry exempt to post-offer

Obtain complete conviction information

Be sure to forward –additional details –

Provide disclaimer that criminal conviction disclosure will not affect consideration for employment

Getting The Right Information

Up-Front

Obtaining Criminal Records Information

In Florida’s Sixty-Seven Counties

Cases Heard By Court Level

General Information On Cases Heard By Each Court –Supreme Court not included

Case Type District Court of Appeals 5

Circuit Courts20 – Jury

Trials

County Courts67

322 Judges

Civil a a Small claims up to $5,000

Felony a a Preliminary hearing

Misdemeanors aDWI aOrdinance Matters aTraffic , no parking aJuvenile a a

Obtaining Exact Address Information Is

Critical

Multiple Counties Within A City

City Counties

Fanning Springs Gilchrist, Levy

Longboat Key Manatee, Sarasota

Using Criminal Justice Information Services (CJIS)

Includes arrests (no juveniles) and convictions of felonies and serious misdemeanors

Access online or by mail - $24.00 – One match is included

Level 1 check - Search by name and SSN or DOB

Level 2 check – State and national fingerprint check

Multiple name matches could require additional info or fingerprint submission

Subject information returned may include name, last 4 of SSN, DOB, address or physical description

Arrest information only – Do you have final case disposition?

Search county for final disposition

Broward County moves records to microfiche after 3 years

VECHS Program (1999) – Work or volunteer with children, elderly, disabled – Includes state and FBI check

Florida FDLE Court Access

Why Is Criminal Information Missing From CJIS?

Subject was never arrested or fingerprinted in Florida

Subject’s record is sealed or expunged

Subject’s fingerprint card never received, had errors, not yet entered

Arresting agency failed to submit information

Fingerprints sent to FBI and not the FDLE

If juvenile arrested before 10/1/94 nothing availableIf arrested after 10/1/94 only felonies availableIf arrested after 1/1/95 felonies and misdemeanors available

Updates to the CJIS system can lag approximately 90 days

Turnaround time for fingerprint verifications could take 15-30 days

Does not include information regarding subjects heard within Indian Tribunal Courts

Criminal Justice Information

Services

Looking Beyond Florida For Proper Due Diligence

County/statewidesearches

Search county or state of residence for all names and addresses for proper coverage

Border States: Alabama, Georgia

Fill in the gaps with available electronic jurisdictional records

Includes any electronic records from county and other courts, AOC, DOC, sex offender registries, government agency lists, international sanction lists

Verification of electronic information

Always verify accuracy for proper compliance

International searches Consider searching based on time overseas

Going Beyond Florida

Jurisdictions

Florida Sexual Offenders and Predators

Sex Offender Sexual Predator

A person that commits a sex crime as defined by Florida state law:Sexual assault;Sexual battery;Voyeurism;Solicitation;Prostitution;Public lewdness

A person that commits the following sex crimes or actions:Repeat sexual offenders;Sex offender that uses physical violence;Sex offenders that prey on children;Sex offenders that pose a higher safety risk;Violation of probation or community control

Required to verify their home address on a periodic basis based on their offense

Required to verify their home address frequently and banned from certain community areas

Must register for a period of time based on expiration of sentence

Must register for a longer period of time or for life

Currently there are approx. 56,919 plus offenders registered in FloridaInformation on non-compliance is not available – Typically 8% to 10% in other states – Child Protection and Safety Act – Adam Walsh Act

Searching Sex Offender Records

Do You Have The Whole Story?

Record Vs. Registry

A sex offender search is limited to violations that require a person to register with a central repository

A criminal search is looking at all criminal records regardless of nature or gravity

How can you use one without the other?

What about offenders coming from other states?

Sex Offender Resources in Florida

Additional Resources

FL Sex Offenders and Predators

http://offender.fdle.state.fl.us/offender/homepage.do

Dru Sjordin National Sex Offender Public Website

http://www.nsopw.gov/

Florida Criminal Records Guidelines

Florida State Guidelines

Can employers ask job applicants about arrests not leading to conviction? Yes

Can employers consider arrests not leading to conviction? Yes

Consumers do not have to acknowledge expunged or sealed records

Most public employers can deny employment based on a felony or first degree misdemeanor that is directly related to the job. Fla. Stat. Ann. § 112.011

No Florida statute prohibits private employers from reviewing the arrest or conviction records of job applicants or employees

City Council ordinance in Jacksonville restricts a city applicant from being asked of prior criminal history on a pre-offer basis

Title VII Concerns Of Discrimination

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964

Intentional discrimination is actionable

Concerns of neutral employment policies that have racially disparate impact upon minorities

Racial minorities are more likely to have criminal records than whites

EEOC Notice N-915 Convictions – Employer Considerations

Nature and gravity of the offense or offenses

Time passed since conviction/release

Nature of job held/sought – Job relatedness

EEOC Resources

EEOC Resources

EEOC Resources For Handling Conviction Information

http://www.eeoc.gov/policy/docs/convict1.html

EEOC Resources For Handling Arrest Information

http://www.eeoc.gov/policy/docs/arrest_records.html

EEOC Resources To Avoid Discrimination

http://www.eeoc.gov/policy/docs/race-color.html#VIB2conviction





http://www.eeoc.gov/policy/docs/race-color.html



Drafting A Policy

Procedures and Drafting Policy

Follow FCRA process – detail steps in policy

Follow state guidelines from application to separation

Identify “bright line” disqualifiers by individual position

Establish “substantial job relatedness” criteria

Establish a matrix – type of crime, age of crime, extent and type of review based on position

Involve higher-level management and counsel when necessary

Update policy and document process as it changes

Best Practices Discussion: Employment Verification

Considerations In-House Challenges

Design scope by position and relevance

Consider time resources – third party verifications

Third party access to on-line verification resources

Supervisor and reference interviews

Paper based – email and after hour verifications

Follow-up process

International verifications

Credible sources and turn-around time

Use of bilingual staff and resources on the ground

Employment fraud Detection methods Tracking fraudulent employers

Employment And

Reference Verifications

Be Aware Of Resume Fraud –

www.fakeresume.com

Be Aware Of Employment Fraud

Spotting Fake Employment History

Things To Consider

If it doesn’t make sense, question it

Was a complete address supplied and verified?

Using Reverse Look Up to verify number and location

Can you identify the company anywhere else on the web?

If you are doing a phone verification, ask for other departments or listed supervisors for verification

Check with the Secretary of State

Best Practices Discussion: Education Verification

Considerations In-House Challenges

Design scope by position and relevance

Consider time resources – third-party sources

Database access and third-party integration

Is accreditation important?

How do you identify time-line of accreditation?

Resources and track accrediting bodies

International verifications

Credible sources and turn-around time

Use of bilingual staff and resources on the ground

Concerns of diploma mills

3,000 plus in existence – how do you track?

The use of databasesand gathering resources

Education Verifications

Diploma Mill Statistics

According to Verifile, UK, there are over 810 known diploma mills in the United States

Top ten states that have unaccredited institutions and unrecognized agencies

Concerns Of Diploma Mills

High School and College Diploma Mills

High School Diploma Mills in Florida

Martin Technical College

Martin College Inc.

Graduates of Almeda University

Spotting Diploma Mills

Things To Consider

If it doesn’t make sense, question it

Was a complete address supplied and verified?

Using Reverse Look Up to verify number and location

Is the institution provided listed on a government resource site?

Education Verifications (continued)


Council For Higher Education Accreditation

http://www.chea.org/

The US Department of Education

http://ope.ed.gov/accreditation/

United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organization

http://www.unesco.org/new/en/unesco/

American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers (AACRAO)

http://www.aacrao.org

Oregon Student Assistance Commission

http://www.osac.state.or.us/oda/unaccredited.aspx

http://www.chea.org/

http://ope.ed.gov/accreditation/

http://www.unesco.org/new/en/unesco/

http://www.aacrao.org/



Using Social Media For Screening


Things To Consider

Did you disclose to the applicant/employee?

Are you invading the privacy of the applicant/employee?

Are you gaining access under false pretences?

Are you discriminating against the applicant/employee?

Would what you see affect the candidate’s/employee’s ability to perform their job?

How can you verify the information you find?

facebook For Screening

myspace For Screening

For Federal Contractors For Florida Employers

Effective September 8, 2009 No current mandate to use E-Verify

(FAR) E-Verify requirement clause should be included in the contract

Federal contracts that are valued at $100,000 or greater; or contract that is 120-days or greater; COTS items are exempt

Services performed within the U.S. or U.S. territory

Employees that work on the contract need to be E-Verified (there are exemptions)

Must sign-up within 30-days of contract award

Existing employees within 90-days; 3-days of hire for new employees

E-Verify Use By Employers

E-Verify Resources


Social Security Administration

http://www.ssa.gov/

Department of Homeland Security

http://www.dhs.gov/

Just One Solution

Robert Capwell

[email protected]

www.ebiinc.com

(800) 324-7700 ext. 181

Questions and Answers


The Fair Credit Reporting Act

If outsourcing to a CRA, provide all FCRA and state related notifications

Follow pre-adverse and adverse process

Provide the candidate/employee an opportunity to respond

Conducting Criminal Record Searches

Get the right information up front

Conduct thorough screening within counties of residence

Look outside of state borders if necessary

Fill in the gaps with electronic data

Searching Sex Offender Records

Remember what you are getting

Don’t rely on your home state alone

Remember record vs. registry


Employment And Reference Verifications

Design a program that makes sense and is consistent

Outsourcing may make sense

Be on the alert for fraud

Education Verifications

Design a program that makes sense and is consistent

Be on the alert for fraud and diploma mills

Use the right resources to verify legitimacy


Are you violating privacy?

Is what you‘re finding factual and usable?

Don’t believe everything you read


E-Verify For Florida Employers

Don’t forget the Federal Contractor Mandate

capwell - critical background screening resources

Business

criminal records information

court levelgeneral information

exact address information

electronic records

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arrest records

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