You don’t need to perform a background check on your employees, right? After all, you’ve Googled them and perused social networking sites, such as MySpace and Facebook, for inconsistencies in their employment history, education, and so on.
If you subscribe to this school of thought, you’re not alone. According to a recent CareerBuilder.com survey, of the 20 percent of the 3,100 employers polled who said they look up information about job applicants online, a full third said they base their hiring decisions on what they glean from social networking sites.
That’s a startling and scary finding. Web searches, while useful, are no substitute for full background checks that disclose important information about an applicant’s criminal record, driving record, education and employment history, and more. Failing to fully vet an applicant could lead, at best, to a poor hire. At worst, it could lead to a negligent hiring lawsuit or even a tragic incident of violence at your workplace. These are risks you just can’t afford to take.
But there are legal restrictions on what you’re allowed to root out, how you go about it, and what you can do with the information once you have it. A poorly executed background check can be even more risky than none at all.
Order this in-depth 90-minute audio conference recording all about how to conduct effective—and legal—background checks. We’ll share the key do's and don’ts for hiring honest, qualified workers without exposing yourself to claims of negligent hiring or discrimination.
Our speaker—an experienced background checks expert—will cover:
- The major types of employment background checks, from criminal records searches and civil litigation checks to educational background, job history, and Social Security verifications
- Which workers and applicants aren’t appropriate targets for background checks
- The types of information you can legally request in your background checks
- The special rules governing credit report information
- Why certain information must be considered off limits, even if an employee or job candidate volunteers it to you
- Your options if the background check reveals negative information
- What you’re legally required to tell an employee or applicant, both before and after the search
- How (and whether) you should file or dispose of background check results
- Why relying on social networking sites to conduct checks is a bad idea
This audio conference will be recorded on Thursday, January 9, 2009
About Your Speaker:
Jared Callahan is the director of client services for Employment Screening Resources (ESR) in Novato, California. Callahan works with employers to conduct background checks and screenings and teaches them about legal compliance efforts across the 50 U.S. states. He began his career in employment screening in 1996 with a private investigative firm, and he has worked as an investigator in the special investigations unit of a large workers’ compensation insurance company.
Approved for Recertification Credit
This program has been approved for 1.5 recertification credit hours toward PHR and SPHR recertification through the Human Resource Certification Institute (HRCI). For more information about certification or recertification, please visit the HRCI homepage at www.hrci.org. The use of this seal is not an endorsement by HRCI of the quality of the program. It means that this program has met HRCI’s criteria to be pre-approved for recertification.
