Tag Archive for: sealed records

What Happens If a Candidate is Lying On An Application?

in /by

Current background check technology makes it increasingly difficult to stretch the truth on a job application—but that doesn’t mean people don’t try lying on an application. Luckily for you and your hiring team, background checks are a simple way to detect inconsistencies.

And if your company runs background checks on current employees, you may occasionally find falsehoods on their applications years after the fact. Dishonesty can throw a wrench in your HR team’s work, but if you have the expert help of One Source and know how to spot troubling information on your own, you can save a lot of time and suspicion.

Today, we’ll be looking at how people typically stretch or hide the truth on resumes and what you can do to make sure your team members are as qualified as they say.

Misrepresenting Education and Qualifications

It’s relatively easy to catch when people aren’t honest about where they went to school and what degrees they earned—easy enough that you may wonder why people would ever attempt lying on an application about something like that. Still, it is not uncommon for applicants to change their school history or stretch the truth about their level of education.

One Source can verify education credentials, and we can also verify the specific degrees an applicant lists. Sometimes people are honest about where they went to college, but may be altering the exact details of their degree. You should always verify a candidate’s school and degree records, especially if their education is essential to their potential job.

Overly Complex Job Titles

These days, job titles in LinkedIn profiles can be less likely to represent what a person actually does. Job titles can be full of flashy buzzwords that don’t give you a clear understanding of their work. And sometimes, these overly eye-catching titles can be a lot of show and not much substance.

Keep an eye on the less exciting job titles too. People can exaggerate their skills or involvement in a task by creating impressive sounding titles that don’t exactly reflect reality. A “social media manager” who snapped a few pictures at a company event don’t have experience building a social presence. Basically, just because a candidate lists a job title does not mean they are well-versed in the job they describe.

These mistruths can be trickier to detect in a background check, but you can make a judgement call. Always ask applicants to explain the specific duties and responsibilities of former roles. This will help you find those who are genuine.

How to Detect and Prevent Dishonesty

There are a few ways to be certain you’re hiring a genuinely qualified candidate: background checks and attentive interviewing. One Source will identify inconsistencies about work history, education, criminal history and more. It’s up to you to recognize when applicants stretch the truth in more subtle ways. However, One Source can help you determine how legitimate a candidate is.
Reach out to One Source today to learn more about our comprehensive TotalCheck system and how we work with you to help you hire honest, qualified employees.

How Changing Marijuana Laws Affect Hiring

in /by

Today in the United States, marijuana is legal to some capacity in 33 states. Other states are discussing legalization. We can expect marijuana laws for legalization to expand over the next several years.

Rapidly changing marijuana laws presents questions and challenges in the employment screening space. Many pieces of marijuana legislation include new employee protections that could impact the way you screen potential employees. To stay compliant with hiring and credit reporting laws, it is important to stay up to date with state regulations.

In today’s blog, we’ll give an overview of the most recent laws protecting employees in regards to marijuana. If your state is not included, now is a good time to adapt to nationwide trend. This allows you to get ahead of the game in case your state passes marijuana laws.

Illinois Right to Privacy in the Workplace Act

In January 2020, Illinois became the eleventh state to legalize recreational marijuana. Part of the law that allowed for recreational marijuana included the Right to Privacy in the Workplace Act. In other words, employers cannot punish them for using marijuana outside of work.

Essentially, Illinois employers cannot fire or refuse to hire an individual because they use marijuana in their free time. This doesn’t mean employers cannot run drug tests on candidates or employees, but the results of marijuana tests are not grounds for termination.

Pre-employment Drug Screening in New Jersey, Nevada, and New York City

New Jersey, Nevada and New York City have all passed similar measures in the past year regarding drug screening and employment. This means employment refusal or termination cannot be based on marijuana screening results.

New Jersey’s ruling specifically applies to those who use medical marijuana. An employee being fired for a positive drug test even though they were using marijuana for medical reasons which led to the passing of this law. The employee sued their employer for not accommodating their medical needs. Now, with the exception of jobs that require lots of safety precautions, employers cannot discriminate against those who use medical marijuana.

Additionally, in Nevada and New York City employers can run pre-employment drug screenings, but those screenings cannot include marijuana. Bypassing marijuana screening eliminates the possibility of hiring teams discriminating against those who use marijuana. There are exceptions to these regulations for safety-conscious positions.

If you think your business may be affected by these new laws or if you want to plan ahead, reach out to One Source. We can help you tailor your drug screening and hiring process to your local mandates.

How An Inadequate Background Check Will Lose You Money

in /by

If you type “background check” into your search bar, you’ll likely see some websites touting their free, fast screenings mixed in with trusted background check agencies. These free background check websites can look tempting—especially if you’re looking to cut costs—but looks can be deceiving. This can lead a company to perform an inadequate background check and potentially a bad hire.

In the case of background checks, not all screenings are equal. Organizations that offer inadequate screenings are all over the internet. And while the screenings themselves may be cheap, their shortcomings can have long-term consequences.

Before you jump into a background check system, consider investing in quality background checks. A reliable, comprehensive background check service will save you from the dangers of an inadequate background check. In this blog, we’ll explain the pitfalls of free screenings and how quality checks from companies like One Source can save you money in the long run.

Lack of Personalization

Every organization approaches screening differently. Before you commit to a background check plan, think about how many screenings you’ll need, what specific information you want in each report, and how you’d like to manage screenings. Background checks aren’t as simple as typing an applicant’s Social Security number into a free database. Free screening sites will lead you to believe they provide comprehensive information, but they will not be able to tailor screenings to your needs. However, this will lead to an inadequate background check and possible bad hire for your company.

Most free screening sites only let you perform one screening at a time, offer no way to organize information, and lack checks that may be essential to your business. All of these issues will waste your time and still leave you with insufficient information. 

One Source tailors your background checks to each position in your company, provides an easy-to-use dashboard to keep reports organized, and always provides comprehensive data.

Dangers of a Bad Hire

At One Source, we work to give you extensive information so you can make the most informed hiring decisions. Hiring a reliable, trustworthy candidate will always be a safer investment than hiring someone you don’t know much about. 

Inadequate background checks will never quite give you all the data you need to make a confident decision. Your peace of mind is worth finding a dependable screening resource. For every bad hire, organizations lose money—more money than a quality background check might cost. Wasted onboarding time, benefits, and equipment all add up to lost funds when you make a bad hire. High turnover rates also lower productivity and dampen morale. 

Before you choose a screening service, remember how your hiring choices can ripple across your company. Quality screenings increase your chance of quality employees, who will in turn increase your profitability. One Source can work with you to personalize your screening solutions and ensure you have everything you need to make the best hire. Check out our TotalCheck solutions to learn more about how we can work for you.

What Does My HR Team Need to Know About Background Checks On Current Employees?

in /by

Employment background checks are a nearly universal HR practice. Organizations generally screen potential employees before they offer them a position. However, it can be helpful to occasionally run background checks on current employees.

By running background checks on your current employees, you can hold your team continuously accountable. This also ensures your employees maintain company values. Each organization requires a unique set of screening procedures, but you can tailor your recurring screenings to fit your needs.

Today, we’ll talk about why some companies screen their current employees. We’ll also discuss what you can do with the information from new background reports. One Source tailors screening solutions for your needs—we can help you determine how your HR team handles background checks.

Why do companies screen their current employees?

Employment screenings help you ensure the new people you bring into your organization meet your expectations and will perform their jobs properly. After you hire your team members, however, it can be a good idea to perform occasional checks to make sure they’re still qualified to work with you.

This especially applies if your employees have to operate cars or machinery. To keep your organization safe, you can check your employees’ driving records periodically. By making sure they’re still in good standing and can safely operate machinery, you protect yourself from the consequences of any potential accidents. You can also run comprehensive backgrounds checks on all of your team to keep the most current information on them.

What can I do with the information from these background checks?

Your HR team likely has clear guidelines that explain what charges or violations will remove them from hiring consideration. When you’re hiring team decides not to hire an applicant because of the information in their background report, they are taking adverse action against the applicant. You must be able to back up your decision with your HR policy and specific parts of the applicant’s report.

For your current employees, you can create a termination policy based on your adverse action policy. By aligning these policies, you hold all current and potential employees to the same standards. If you rescreen your employees once a year, you can determine if they are still upholding the expectations of your organization and if they are qualified to complete their jobs. 

How can One Source help me?

At One Source, we offer solutions that make rescreening employees efficient and easy. Applicant Recheck allows you to instantly run a screening on your employees you’ve put in the One Source system. We also offer bulk background checks. To complete bulk checks, we’ll send you a spreadsheet to fill out, you’ll send it back securely and we can then run checks on your whole team at once. 

One Source can help you set up company-wide screenings at any frequency that makes the most sense for you. Reach out to our Client Relations team to learn more about how we can help you build the best screening process for you.

2020 Q3 FCRA Compliance Update

in /by

As we enter the winter of 2020, it is a good time to take a look at your company’s policies and processes. This new season will bring different challenges and opportunities for businesses. Whether you plan on hiring this fall or not, it’s always in your best interest to stay up to date with new FCRA compliance policies.

The first half of 2020 brought some policy changes in the world of hiring and screening. Here, we’ll cover some of the most prominent new FCRA compliance policies to keep your hiring practices compliant with state and local laws.

Salary History Bans

Recent measures have been taken that prevent employers from asking applicants about their salary history. They are intended to stop employers from basing their pay on previous compensation. In general, these bans seek to increase pay equity and ensure employees are paid fairly—regardless of any previous salary.

Maryland recently passed a version of salary history ban that includes additional expectations for employers. After October 1, 2020, employers must upon request provide applicants with a range of wages they expect to pay the person they hire. Employers cannot retaliate against an applicant for requesting pay information. Additionally, employers can’t use previous earnings as a baseline to set pay for new hires.

Toledo, Ohio and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania also each passed salary history bans in their local governments. Both bans went into effect in June 2020.

Ban-the-Box Laws

A ban-the-box law delays the time an employer can ask about an applicant’s criminal history. Instead of inquiring about criminal history at the beginning of the hiring process, employers under ban-the-box laws must wait. A potential criminal record must be obtained later in the hiring process. Ban-the-box laws can also change the way an employer is allowed to respond to a candidate’s criminal record.

In Waterloo, Iowa, organizations with 15 or more employees cannot take adverse action against applicants based on arrests, pending charges or expunged records. They also cannot take adverse action against any criminal charge without a “legitimate business reason.” The new law in Waterloo defines a “legitimate business reason” as instances where a criminal record would pose a risk to other employees, the public or any vulnerable populations served by the business.

The communities of Suffolk County, New York and St. Louis, Missouri also just passed ban-the-box laws. Suffolk County’s law went into effect on August 25, 2020. St. Louis’s ban-the-box ordinance will start on January 1, 2021.

Whether or not these new laws impact your business, they reflect trends that may spread to your community. As you develop plans and policies for the coming months, One Source will keep you updated on compliance laws and help you find screening solutions. Learn more about our tailored background check solutions here or get in touch with our Client Relations team.