Tag Archive for: volunteer screenings

Tips to Prepare Your Hiring Process for 2021

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If your organization has needed to change and adapt its hiring process in 2020, you’re not alone. The pandemic has brought forth previously unforeseeable challenges including furloughs, layoffs, hiring freezes and more. Whether your organization has taken any of these measures or not, the events of 2020 have likely caused you to rethink your priorities and methods.

Preparing for the future—and all its uncertainties—means focusing your efforts and finding efficiencies. One Source can help you find ways to smooth out your hiring process and strengthen your security while hiring the best candidates for you. Below are some of our tips for how you can prepare and hone your hiring process so your organization can thrive—whatever lies ahead.

Streamline the Applicant Experience

The increase in unemployment in 2020 has created an influx of applicants and a scarcity of open positions. Don’t be surprised to see higher numbers of applicants for any opening you post in 2021, just make sure you’re ready to manage the uptick. 

Regardless of whether you hire a certain individual, their application and interview experience will impact their perception of your organization. The best way to give your applicants a positive experience is to make the applying, interviewing and screening processes efficient. You can build automated emails that keep candidates updated about the status of their application or background check and also schedule interviews. Automating some simple communications will allow you more time to personalize other communication with your applicants. This can help you and them feel organized and allow you to familiarize them with your company culture.

Keep Tabs on Compliance

Guidelines for not only hiring, but also workplace health and safety are evolving every day. As the pandemic continues to shape our daily lives, the recommendations of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) will change to reflect our circumstances. To make sure your organization doesn’t miss anything, develop a system to monitor messages from entities that influence your hiring. 

One recent guideline to note from the EEOC is the “direct threat standard,” which changes how employers can use health-related questions. Usually, employers can’t ask about medical conditions because of the Americans with Disabilities Act. Now, however, the direct threat of the pandemic allows employers to require health screenings in order to minimize COVID-19. If infection rates decrease, this guideline could be removed. 

We aren’t sure what the next year will look like, but we can still plan ahead. Make sure your organization is meeting all local mask requirements, is aware of potential policy changes in your area and ready to embrace change. At One Source, we can help you prepare your hiring strategy to be adaptable by tailoring your background check plan to your specific needs. If you have any questions about how you should approach hiring next year or how you can streamline your screenings, contact our Client Relations team or visit the Solutions tab.

How Small Businesses Can Streamline Hiring and Onboarding

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As we look ahead to 2021, your business might be considering adding a few new positions or reworking your structures. Recruiting and training new employees is exciting—it’s always a good sign when you can grow your team. However, the process of finding and onboarding the best candidate can be tedious and stressful. From reviewing applications to interviewing to employment background checks to onboarding, hiring managers must manage dozens of tasks and documents while communicating with the applicants.

At One Source, we believe employment background checks, hiring and onboarding can be streamlined with a few tricks and tools. We’re here to help you find the best candidates quickly and efficiently. Below are a few ways you can simplify and organize hiring and onboarding in 2021.

Recruit in the Right Places

Small businesses may think they need to cast a wide net in order to get the attention of potential candidates, but sometimes the opposite is true. You can save both money and time by advertising your job openings in the places that make the most sense for you.

Take a moment to discuss with your hiring team what kind of candidate you’re looking for. Then consider where they will most likely encounter your job listings. Do you need to post on a large job search site? Can you share your job opportunities through local industry associations? Could you use your professional network to share information through word of mouth and referrals?

By focusing on your recruitment efforts, your hiring team will have less to juggle and find more quality leads than if you post a job opening on multiple sites.

Automate as Much as You Can

Save time and get more organized by relying on technology to manage to hire wherever possible. You can build online applications tailored to your job requirements through Google Forms or a hiring management app. Personalizing online applications can give you a greater understanding of your applicants before the interview stage. Online applications also make it easy to organize materials.

You can also streamline background checks with the help of One Source. Our online platform makes it so easy to keep track of all your employment background checks. Plus, we present background check results in an easy-to-interpret format and our team is always happy to help answer questions. You don’t have to spend time worrying about what screening results mean and focus on finding the best applicants.

After the Employment Background Check, Prep Your Onboarding

Once you’ve confirmed your new hire, you can turn your attention to making them feel welcome and setting them up for success. They will feel more confident in their new position if they spend their first day learning about your company’s function, not doing a bunch of paperwork.

Streamline the onboarding paperwork by using HR software. With software, you can build digital onboarding packets that have all the paperwork ready to go at any time. This will allow your new hire to digitally sign all their paperwork quickly and efficiently.

If you have any questions about how to maximize your hiring or streamline your background check process, please reach out to One Source’s Client Relations Team. Check out our background check services as well in the Solutions tab.

One Source’s Guide to Simplifying the Individualized Assessments Process

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In 2012, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) published new guidance for how employers should respond to arrests and conviction records on background checks. These rulings are over eight years old. However, they have a ton of influence over how employers can ethically manage their hiring practices. The key to these EEOC rulings is a practice called individualized assessment process.

The individualized assessment process allow candidates with criminal records to explain how their record will not affect their job. Many people with criminal records can excel in certain roles, and individualized assessment exists to give them a fair opportunity for work.

The goal of individualized assessment is to give those with criminal records the chance to move beyond their past while also protecting employers. Paying specific attention to applicants who would like to contextualize their arrests or convictions does take more time and resources. However, your extra time could give someone the opportunity to start a new life while keeping those whose crimes would interfere with their work away from your organization.

Individualized assessments are all about the balance between giving all candidates a fair chance and protecting your organization. It is ethical and honorable to ensure you give every candidate a fair chance, but there are ways to simplify the individualized assessment process.

The easiest way to streamline the individualized assessment process is to know what to ask when a candidate has a criminal record. Prior to an interview, you should evaluate the nature and gravity of the candidate’s offense, determine how long ago the offense occurred and consider whether the offense has any relevance to the job they applied for. These three considerations are called the “Green factors” after the court case in which they were created. You can learn specific offenses and when they happened in the candidate’s One Source background check.

Once you have established each of the “Green factors” and discussed them with your team, you can then open up the conversation to the job applicant. Ask them to provide context for the offenses in question and give them a chance to explain themselves.

The best thing you can do to hire ethically and fairly while still keeping your organization safe is to listen to your applicants. Not all criminal records should leave someone unemployable forever. If the crime doesn’t relate to the nexus of the position, they could certainly excel.

You can stay efficient and give all applicants a fair chance with tools offered by One Source. Our online portal offers places for applicants to provide context for their records and a place for you to see if they meet your company requirements. With our help, you can offer individualized assessments to those who need it without slowing down your hiring process. One Source is committed to helping you find the right employees in a timely manner while hiring ethically. If you have any questions about background check ethics or hiring practices, please reach out to the One Source Client Relations team.

Get to Know the One Source Certified Contractor Program

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Generally, it’s a given to run background checks on all full-time employees. Employees get widespread access to your organization’s information, facilities and trade secrets, so it only makes sense to screen them before they join the team. But what about contractors? They are not full-time team members with access to all of your information, but they do get to spend time in your facilities and networks. Even if you don’t have time to run full-scale background checks on all your contractors, it is worth it to screen them in some way, and we can help through our Certified Contractor Program.

Whether a contractor is troubleshooting your computers, working with your electrical system or renovating your office space, you should be able to fully trust them with your property and information.

At One Source, we offer a simple way to ensure the contractors you hire will be reliable and safe through the One Source Certified Contractor (OSCC) program. This program looks into the backgrounds of contractors to see if they meet a set of standards identified by One Source. Should the contractor fail to meet these standards, they will not receive access to your site. And you’ll save time because neither you nor the contractor have to decipher full background checks.

We know not every organization and site are the same, so we offer a few different levels of to the OSCC program.

  • Level 1: A full criminal background check
  • Level 2 and higher: A full criminal background check plus a drug test

All contractors must be certified against a set of standards , which you can review here. These standards were built by background check professionals and are intended to keep you, your organization and the contractors as safe as possible. Recently, a school district in Omaha, Nebraska entrusted the OSCC program to screen contractors who would have access to their school facilities. Through our screenings, we prevented more than one registered sex offender from being granted site access at a school.

The OSCC is part of the many ways we are committed to keeping our community safe. And the best part of the OSCC is that it is completely free for you to use. In order to run OSCC background checks on contractors, all you need is a contractor’s OSCC credentials. Enter those credentials into the search bar on the OSCC Search page, and One Source will check them to the highest standard.

Make sure everyone entering your organization to work is thoroughly vetted with the OSCC program as well as One Source’s comprehensive background check options. Learn more about how we can provide proper background checks for everyone in your organization by browsing our blog or by reaching out to our team today.

What Happens If a Candidate is Lying On An Application?

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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

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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

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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?

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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

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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.

How to Streamline Remote Employee Onboarding

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The shift to remote work has changed how many businesses keep employees engaged, informed, and connected to company culture. Creating a sense of connection can be particularly difficult for new employees who only know you through their computer screen. Through the pandemic and beyond, businesses must be able to adapt their onboarding process to sufficiently meet the demands of virtual work. HR teams can develop processes and experiences that allow new, virtual employees to feel welcome while keeping virtual hiring organized. Here are some remote employee onboarding tips to creating a straightforward, engaging process for your HR team.

Automate the Paperwork

So many parts of the hiring and onboarding process involve stacks of paperwork for both HR and the new hire. You can streamline this entire process for your HR team and new hire by automating the processes for background checks, I-9s, employee handbooks and other onboarding information. One Source’s online portal offers simplicity and organization that will align with your HR team’s workflow. This also gives them time to acquaint prospective hires with your company.

Other kinds of HR software can allow applicants to complete onboarding documents like direct deposit forms and Form I-9s. Form I-9s must be completed within three days of a new hire date. However, your team can start the process sooner. This can streamline the remote employee onboarding process and take some pressure off new employees. Your newest team members will be overwhelmed enough by learning about their new job remotely, so take any chance to automate paperwork and free time to focus on building a connection.

Keep Communicating

Just because face-to-face interviews are rare these days doesn’t mean your hiring mindset should shift much. You’re still trying to win over the best candidates. Maintain proper communication about scheduling and operations so your applicants and new hires. This lets them know they’re not out of sight, out of mind. Setting clear expectations about onboarding processes and being communicative makes new employees feel involved and valued.

To keep communication flowing between you and your new hires, you can seek feedback with surveys and quick meetings. The insight you gather from those who experience remote onboarding can help you improve your process and shine a light on ways you can make all new employees feel more welcome.

Remote hiring and onboarding require creativity, proactive communication and care. At One Source, we work to help you seamlessly navigate the changing hiring environment to make your applicants and newcomers feel welcome while supporting your HR team. Check out our screening solutions to see how One Source can help you build the screening process that fits your needs.