NEWS

DUI & Criminal Background Check Results: What to Expect

If you have a conviction for a DUI, will a criminal background check show that conviction? Is a DUI considered a criminal offense? The answer is yes in almost every area of the United States. Driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol almost always rates as a misdemeanor or felony offense. Most jurisdictions see DUI or DWI as criminal charges. Therefore, individuals with convictions for DUI should expect it to be a part of their criminal record.

How Can Companies Appropriately Screen New Remote Workers?

Even as some regions begin to lift their lockdowns to jump-start the economy, the COVID-19 pandemic has ensured that typical social conventions will return far more slowly. From maintaining appropriate distancing to wearing masks, daily life looks different for many, and so does the workday.

Top 25 hourly rates at major companies

Hourly rates and minimum wages have received a lot of attention in the media in recent years thanks to a political push to institute higher minimum wages at the state or federal level. So far, the federal rate isn’t increasing: it’s remained $7.25 per hour since July 2009. However, many employers are taking steps to increase hourly rates on their own.

How Long Will My Background Check Take During the Pandemic?

For several months after COVID-19 hit the United States, one of the many consequences of the pandemic was a slowdown in the employee background check process. While most employers were laying off or furloughing workers rather than hiring, the businesses that were looking for new personnel often had to make do with slower or less comprehensive background checks than they were accustomed to using.

The Return to Daycare and the Importance of Background Checks for Childcare Workers

As the economy reopens and parents go back to work, the return to daycare will be a common topic of conversation. For months, daycares across the nation have been shuttered—some of them completely, others only operating to care for the children of healthcare professionals and other essential workers. While there is some discussion about whether daycares will be able to resume business at all following the economic blow dealt by COVID-19, it’s critical to consider one aspect of their return: background checks for childcare workers.

The Value of Background Checks When Hiring Contractors

COVID-19 brought with it an unprecedented need for medical products and personal protection equipment. Some questionable spending decisions at the federal level have underlined the importance of contractor screening. According to a recent article published by ProPublica, the Trump Administration has paid $1.8 billion to hundreds of contractors with no experience with federal contracting who were not subject to a thorough vetting process or required to bid on their projects.

Will Background Checks During the COVID-19 Pandemic Be Delayed?

Since March, much of the economy has been at a standstill due to stay-at-home orders and other quarantine protections intended to slow or stop the spread of COVID-19. Now, the economy is starting to reopen, and states are beginning the tentative process of returning to normal. According to this New York Times map, all states are either in the process of reopening, reopening regionally, or planning reopening strategies for the near future—no states remain entirely shut down.

Pennsylvania Provides Guidelines for FBI Background Checks Delayed by COVID-19

In many sensitive employment or volunteer situations, such as providing child care or being a foster parent, a clean and clear background is one of or the most critical factor to consider in hiring. Many states set stringent vetting requirements to do as much as possible to ensure that only qualified and trustworthy professionals work in these positions. State lawmakers typically use the FBI background check as a standard for looking into an individual's past, which requires fingerprints to run.

What New York Employers Should Know about Article 23-A and COVID-19 Releases

Nationwide, COVID-19 has created an unprecedented push to release inmates from jail or prison, often before their sentences are complete. The fear is that the novel coronavirus will spread rapidly among prison populations due to close-quarters living and limited access to hygiene options. Few states have been more active than New York, where Governor Andrew Cuomo moved in late March to release 1,100 low-level parole violators from jail.

Keeping Your Credit Score Safe During Pandemic Pressures

With record unemployment numbers, tens of millions of workers are now without regular access to a paycheck. As some states struggle to process unemployment claims and bills pile up, concerns grow about the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on individual credit scores. How can you protect the credit record that you've worked hard to develop? Will employers view credit issues with a balanced perspective?

How Courthouses Reopening Will Impact Employee Background Checks

Across the country, governors are making plans to ease their states out of lockdowns and start lifting stay-at-home orders that have been in place since March. The reopening process won’t occur all at once: in Michigan, for instance, Governor Gretchen Whitmer recently announced that she would begin the process of reopening by lifting restrictions only in the northern parts of the state where COVID-19 cases have been sparse. Other states are taking a similar approach. As businesses reopen, courts will resume normal operations—something that will affect background checks, particularly county criminal history searches.

Recruiting Foreign Healthcare Workers

We could soon see the arrival of tens of thousands of foreign healthcare workers in the United States thanks to a bipartisan effort in the United States Congress to issue more visas for immigrant doctors and nurses. If passed, the legislation has the potential to bring to 40,000 healthcare workers to the United States from other countries to help the domestic healthcare system in the fight against COVID-19.

Which Sources Do Employers Use for Employee Background Checks?

When an employer conducts employee background checks, which sources do they use to collect accurate, up-to-date information? While some job seekers picture hiring managers conducting background checks via Google, most employment background checks occur through more official sources. Most employers will hire a background check vendor—such as backgroundchecks.com—to conduct employee background checks on their behalf, so the sources that employers use for background checks are the sources that the background check vendor uses.

Introducing the New App That Could Reshape Hospital Hiring During the Pandemic

A new software solution developed as part of a global hackathon event could hold solutions to some of the challenges that hospitals in COVID-19 epicenters are facing.

Hiring Healthcare Professionals in a Pandemic

A pandemic poses unique challenges for hiring across all industries. In the first six weeks of the COVID-19 outbreak in the United States, stay-at-home orders and consumer fears led to a massive shuttering of the economy and caused more than 30 million people to file unemployment claims with the government. While most businesses aren’t hiring, some are—particularly the healthcare organizations in hard-hit outbreak epicenters.

Do Previous Legal Names Show up on Background Checks?

Employers need a job applicant’s legal name for background checks. Names and birthdates are the primary means of linking criminal records to individuals. However, what if someone changes their name? This area is one of the main dilemmas for employers considering criminal background checks.

The Best Recruiting or HR Tools for SMMEs

When it comes to attracting, recruiting, and hiring top talent, Small, Medium & Micro Enterprise businesses (SMMEs) are at a disadvantage compared to huge, well-known companies. Recognizable brands such as Salesforce in tech or Mayo Clinic in healthcare have no problem sourcing or retaining talent—in part because they offer great places to work, but also because they are already on the radar for job seekers across the country. For smaller employers that don’t have the benefit of a household name, it’s essential to find other ways to gain an edge in recruiting and HR management. We explore an array of tools that your SMME can use to add value, source top talent, and effectively manage that talent. To view the full infographic click here.

The Fair Chance Act and Ban the Box Legislation

All Federal and State LawsOver the past decade, few trends in background checks have been more notable than the wave of ban the box legislation. Thirty-five states and 150 cities, counties, and local jurisdictions throughout the United States have adopted ban the box laws and ordinances. These measures, which mandate the removal of criminal history-related questions from job application materials, are often intended to give ex-offenders a better chance at job consideration and employment. In late 2019, the ban the box movement hit a new milestone with the passage of the federal Fair Chance Act. This law marks the second significant federal ban the box policy, and it could signal an even bigger swell of momentum behind the ban the box trend. In this white paper, we explain all current ban the box laws and provide the key details that employers need to know to remain compliant. To view the full infographic click here or read the full white paper.

Adapting to the Realities of Job Screening During a Pandemic

If there was a talent crunch before the outbreak of COVID-19, its severity has doubled since. For employers, the challenge of hiring the best individual for a job already meant sorting through piles of applications. Now, there will be even more competition for open positions.

Do Background Checks Depend on the Position Hired?

Employee background checks vary significantly. While some job seekers assume that every job background check is just a standard criminal history search, variation occurs not only from company to company but also from job to job.