Is your social network making you look good?

People are consumed with social networking, Facebook, Myspace, Twitter. Do these sites make you look good to others? How do you know that your profile isn't being viewed for a background check?

As a graduating senior, I wonder, whether or not my Facebook page would earn me a job. So many of my friends, who are in my same position, out there looking for jobs, have made a change to their pages.

There are no more drunk photos are their default picture, no personal photos for the public to view, and no inappropriate postings. Everything that an employer doesn't want to see or know about a perspective employee is at their disposal.

According to EmployeeScreen, "An employer can terminate an employee or refuse to hire an applicant based on information found online as long as that information is not used in a discriminatory manner. This means job seekers should be careful about what they put on their social networking profiles when preparing for a background check".

It's interesting to think that one's personal web page could be used against them, when looking for a job.

Step one:
Cleaning up our social networking page!

The in's and out's of background checks

The number of employers running background checks is growing. Even though most people have little to nothing to hide, it still makes them uncomfortable knowing a stranger will be looking into their personal lives.

Information to be included in the search:

• Driving records and vehicle registration
• Court and criminal records
• Bankruptcy and credit report
• Medical and drug test records
• Education and past employment

After a certain time some items that cannot be included:

• Bankruptcies after 10 years
• Civil suits, civil judgments, and records of arrest, from date of entry, after seven years.
• Paid tax liens after seven years
• Accounts placed for collection after seven years
• Any other negative information (except criminal convictions) after seven years

Applicant are allowed to know what a company will be checking for. According the FCRA applicants need submit written consent prior to the background check being conducted.

Still concerned about background checks? Potential job applicants can conduct there own type of background check to ensure no "surprises" or concerns come up. Some examples include:

• Conduct your own credit report
• Check DMV records
• Ask for your personnel file from a previous job
• Clean up your personal web pages, like Facebook

If you follow these steps and there are no surprises, you'll have nothing to worry about.

The Why's of Background Checks

The Privacy Rights Clearinghouse offers some key information into the why's and how's of employer background checks. Worried about an employment screening? Here are a few reasons for the process:

Negligent hiring lawsuits are on the rise. If an employee's actions hurt someone, the employer may be liable. The threat of liability gives employers reason to be cautious in checking an applicant's past.

Child abuse and child abductions in the news in recent years have resulted in new laws in almost every state that require criminal background checks for anyone who works with children.

Terrorist acts of September 11, 2001, have resulted in heightened security and identity-verification strategies by employers.

Corporate executives, officers, and directors now face a degree of scrutiny in both professional and private life unknown before the Enron debacle and other corporate scandals of 2002.

False or inflated information supplied by job applicants is frequently in the news. Some estimates are that 30% to 40% of all job applications and resumes include some false or inflated facts.

Federal and state laws require that background checks be conducted for certain jobs. For example, most states require criminal background checks for anyone who works with children, the elderly, or disabled. The federal National Child Protection Act authorizes state officials to access the FBI's National Crime Information Center (NCIC) database for some positions.

The "information age" itself may be a reason for the increase in employment screening -- the availability of computer databases containing millions of records of personal data. As the cost of searching these sources drops, employers are finding it more feasible to conduct background checks.

Background Checks for Priests

In today's world, background checks are commonplace among many companies. They're especially required for most jobs that entail trust or working with children, such as teachers, healthcare workers and public safety workers.

One might think that background checks would leak into the religious world sooner rather than later, considering the recent controversy there. One country is trying that idea out.

According to an article by The Irish Catholic, priests in the Diocese of Ferns have volunteered to undergo background checks. The diocese has received completed forms from more than 70 percent of priests so far.

The idea to have priests submit to background checks was brought about by the Diocesan Child Protection Committee, which is made up of lay people and clergy. The committee thinks the checks will demonstrate good leadership.

The Fern diocese also plans to issue a newsletter updating all parishes on what has been done to safeguard children and what future plans lie ahead.

"These lay representatives will be the first port of call for anyone worried about a child's safety," the article notes. "A spokesman confirmed that the diocese is also meeting all of its obligations from Church and civil authorities in reporting all allegations of child sexual abuse involving priests, to the Holy See, the Diocesan advisory panel, the Garda (police) and the HSE at inter-agency meetings. All recommendations and directives received from these bodies have been implemented."

While background checks remain the focus of priests for the time being, there is a chance they could be expanded into Catholic schools in the future.

Background Checks Mandatory for NJ Recreation Workers

One New Jersey town is making background checks mandatory for recreation department workers.

A new ordinance was recently passed unanimously by the Toms River Town Council requiring all current and future Recreation Department employees to submit to fingerprinting and criminal background checks. However, employees will be exempt from the new ordinance if they can provide proof they have undergone a similar federal and state background check within the past year.

The ordinance also authorizes the Toms River police chief to exchange fingerprint data with and receive the criminal history record from the state police and the Federal Bureau of Investigation The police chief is responsible for providing Recreation Department managers with the criminal history results, according to an article by The Toms River Times.

Anyone convicted of a crime or offense, excluding petty disorderly offenses, will not be eligible for employment with the recreation department. The township plans to pay for any costs associated with the background checks for current employees, but future employees will be charged $60 to cover the costs.

All present and future employees must also have their background checked with the New Jersey Sexual Offender Registry every year. If anyone is disqualified from employment because of a background check, they can submit an appeal.

The National Council of State Boards of Nursing Inc. Reaches 30 Year Anniversary

Founded in 1978 as an independent not-for profit-organization, the National Council of State Boards of Nursing Inc. (NCSBN) marked the milestone of reaching its 30th anniversary this year.

NCSBN’s membership is comprised of the boards of nursing in the 50 states, the District of Columbia, and four U.S. territories — American Samoa, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands and the Virgin Islands. These boards of nursing protect the public by ensuring that safe and competent nursing care is provided by licensed nurses and NCSBN is the vehicle through which the boards act and counsel together on matters of common interest.

NCSBN member boards are charged with the responsibility of providing regulatory excellence for public health, safety and welfare. They recognize that the best way to guard the safety of the public is to ensure that nurses entering the workforce have the necessary knowledge and skills to practice. U.S. boards of nursing regulate more than 2.9 million licensed nurses, the second largest group of licensed professionals in the U.S.

The reason for its creation arose out of recognition that in order to guard the safety of the public, the regulation needed to be a separate entity from the organization representing professional nurses.

NCSBN recognizes that health care is a constantly evolving field. In order for nursing regulation to keep pace in this rapidly changing environment, NCSBN has adopted numerous position statements, guiding principles and model acts and rules for use by member boards of nursing. In recent years, these include: the approval of the NCSBN Model Practice Act, which includes the authority to conduct criminal background checks; the adoption of the proposed standard for drug screening results; approving position papers, “Working with Others: Delegation and Other Health Care Interfaces” and “Nursing Education Clinical Instruction In Pre-licensure Nursing Programs”; and enacting the Model Act and Rules For Delegation, the Nursing Assistant Regulatory Model and the Model Process for Criminal Background Checks.

NCSBN works collaboratively with other nursing and health care organizations as well as local, state, national and international government agencies aiming toward realizing its vision of building regulatory expertise worldwide.

“We always have been and always will be proud to be on the forefront of nursing regulation,” concludes Rhodes.

Background Check Statistics

According to the AmericanDataBank.com, up to 30 percent of all applications contain false information and another 40 percent of resumes have facts that are misrepresented. On top of this, 30 percent of all business failures are caused by employee theft, the website found. Because of this, employers are conducting more background checks before deciding to hire new workers than ever before. Liz Pulliam Weston of MSN Money found that 9 out of 10 large employers are now investigating applicants.

The results of these checks often differ from industry to industry. AmericanDataBank.com found that the food service sector has the highest occurrence of applicants with criminal records, with 8 percent of background checks in this industry having negative marks in this regard. The second highest was retail, where 7 percent of applicants were found to have a criminal record. Only 4 percent of those in the business services sector had this sort of history, which was the lowest out of the industries investigated.

The highest percent of inaccurate resumes were found in the transportation industry, where 89 percent of the background checks on applicants showed that they had misrepresented themselves. Food service came in second with 54 percent of workers making this mistake. The manufacturing sector had the lowest amount of job seekers lying while trying to get hired. Only 42 percent of candidates in this area of employment tried to get a job by making themselves look better than they actually are on paper.

Many employers are now looking into applicants’ credit histories in order to help them make hiring decisions. AmericanDataBank.com found that the food services industry, once again, had the highest occurrence of applicants with negative credit reports. Over half (51 percent) of workers in this sector had a past that involved some sort of financial issue. Business services had the lowest, with only 33 percent having a past in this regard.

Statistics like these illustrate how important it is that employers conduct pre-employment background checks, especially in industries that have a higher ratio of employees that misrepresent them on resumes.

Background Checks

Despite the legal ramifications, many employers mistakenly believe that they can go without conducting background checks(Click here) on potential new hires. Some have the habit of thinking that serious hiring mistakes won’t happen to their business, while others simply can’t justify the expense.

These employers should consider the statistics. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, state and federal courts found approximately 6 percent of adults in the nation guilty of a felony in 2004. Altogether, 1,145,000 individuals were convicted, with 1,079,000 at the state level and 66,518 at the federal level.

Since the economy is currently struggling and there are fewer jobs, many employers are now receiving an abundance of resumes for each position they announce. If a company has 50 applicants for a position, this means that, according to statistics, 3 of these individuals will have a felony on their record. Many people will not disclose their past transgressions, so conducting background checks is the only way to safeguard the workplace.

Bankrate.com found that one-third of all resumes contain some level of dishonesty. According to Business Week, applicants for executive level jobs are also guilty of misleading employers. Around 16 percent of these professionals make false claims about their educational background or employment history. With this many individuals deciding not to be honest with employers, background checks are important to avoid hiring an individual who does not have the training necessary to fulfill their responsibilities.

According to a Right Management survey conducted in 2006, making a bad hiring decision usually costs around 2 ½ times the salary of the position in question when an employee doesn’t work out. This figure includes recruitment, training, severance costs and lost productivity.
Other risks associated with no conducting background checks on job applicants includes; employee theft, workplace violence and problems insurance companies.

When all of these things are considered, it is obviously much cheaper to investigate candidates before hiring.

Southern Baptist Convention Requests Background Checks for Missionaries

The International Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention is urging short-term missionaries to pass background checks before leaving for the field.

Though not mandatory, a child protection policy would not apply to mission trips taken independently of the International Mission Board.

The policy reads, in part, "Because almost everyone serving on the mission field interacts with children, we are asking that all short-term mission trip participants ages 18 and older have child protection training and go through a background screening process.”

Effective January 1, 2009, the process will include references, a criminal background check and an interview by local churches.

Ken Winter, vice president of the International Mission Board, noted that having to consider such a policy was regrettable, but because of incidents within local churches, the policy is deemed necessary.

"We know that many Southern Baptist churches are already providing background checks and training for members who are serving in local church ministry, but it may not extend to those headed overseas as a part of a mission team."

Anyone refusing to submit to a background check will not be allowed to travel as a mission with the International Missionary Board. Too, anyone with a history of sexual abuse may not serve on board-related mission trips.

The Southern Baptist Convention has come under inquiry by abuse victims' advocates who have said their efforts to prevent sexual abuse have been unsatisfactory. In 2007, the group passed a decree of "moral outrage" about child sexual abuse.

Earlier this year, the SBC Executive Committee chose not to pursue a planned database that would track clergy who have been accused of sexual abuse. The decision was based in part on the autonomy of local churches.

Background Check Assistance Added to Software

HireRight, Inc. recently announced that it has successfully integrated its background check and drug screening capabilities with Taleo Business Edition Recruit. This will allow users of Taleo's program the ability to manage their background check and drug screening programs through a single, integrated interface and sign-on.

"As the provider of the original and most utilized pre-integrated screening solution for Taleo, we are excited about bringing the screening functionality and user experience that has been so popular with large employers to the small and medium-sized businesses taking advantage of Taleo Business Edition Recruit," said Rob Pickell, who is the president of marketing and product management at HireRight.

HireRight's addition to Taleo's prodcut includes an ordering feature that enables users to order a quality background check or drug test from their computer. The results are then made available on the program as soon as the test and check have been completed. By doing this, HireRight eliminated the necessity of entering data more than once, which significantly reduces the possibility of errors.

"Our small and midsize customers are accustomed to a high level of efficiency, intuitiveness and ease-of-use," said Jason Blessing, who is the group vice president and general manager of Taleo Business Edition's full line of products. "The HireRight pre-integrated solution supports our users' expectations for ease of use and gives them robust capabilities for managing an efficient and effective employment screening program from a single user interface."

This edition of Taleoss HR software is used predominately by small and mid-sized employers. HireRight's easily used interface helps to save time during the process of background checks. Many of these businesses do not employ an individual who handles only investigations into applicants past, so it is important that they be able to maximize the time spent on this responsibility.

Employment Background Checks for University

One problem that many have with pre-employment background checks are the fact that they call into question issues of personal privacy. Does an employer have the right to protect their business and search for more information before hiring or is it more important to allow an individual to keep their past private?

Recently the University of Utah has been trying to create a new pre-employment background check policy, but some are concerned about the aforementioned issues among others. Officials at the University hope that instituting such a policy would ensure that the best teachers and other employees are hired and protect students from dangerous individuals.

Background checks are now required by Utah House Bill 196, which was passed unanimously in 2007. According to this legislation, Universities are required to begin investigating new applicants by May 1st of next year. The law is most concerned with checks being conducted on individuals who will have “significant contact with a minor” or will be taking positions that are “security sensitive.”

At a recent Academic Senate meeting, concerns about the creation of the policy were brought up.
“There might be an arrest for political protest in one’s past. We would want that to never preclude someone being offered employment,” said senate President Paul Mogren in a recent interview. “Other youth discretions may come up. Anything that comes up on the criminal is not grounds for not hiring someone.”

Back in 2003, these issues came to the foreground when it was discovered that a Pennsylvania State University professor had taken part in a triple murder when he was 17 years old. During the time, several experts stated that they believed universities would be conducting pre-employment background checks within the next several years.

Results of ACCS’ Employee Background Checks

Recently the Alabama Community College System completed background checks on all of their current employees. Although some of their newer hires underwent the investigations as part of the employment procedure, many who had been with the system for a while had not.

The background checks on ACCS employees took a total of three months. During the process, the system found out that less than 1 percent of all of its workers had felony record. The final number of individuals who had these charges against them was 73.

“This is very good news for ACCS employees,” said Chancellor Bradley Byrne. He went on to say that the majority of those who did have felony records were accused of low-level crime, most of which were for older offenses.

“Every one of these 73 cases is being reviewed on its own individual merits,” said Byrne. “If the president would like to retain the employee, he or she presents it to me for my approval. We will continue this process with all new employees in the future.”

During the background checks, a number of identity theft cases were discovered. ACCS reported that 37 employees found out that they had been the victim of this crime, which might have not come to their attention otherwise. This is often a benefit of employment related background checks.

Instead of handling these investigations internally, ACCS officials decided to outsource its employee background checks to The Integrity Group. Altogether ACCS employs approximately 10,500. Of this number, TIG investigated 9,400 full and part time employees. The rest had recently undergone background checks and, therefore, did not have to do so again.

The outcome for the 73 employees with felony differed. As of September 30th, the decision had made to keep 23 of the employees because both the president and the chancellor felt that the crimes in question had happened far enough in the individuals pasts, the crimes in question were not serious enough in nature to be a concern, and the employees were found to be valuable members of the institution.

ACCS found reason to terminated 8 of the employees, another 4 left voluntarily and 6 were non-renewed. At this time, 32 individuals are still under review by either the chancellor or the institution’s president.

New Background Check Law Passed in California

Background checks(Click here) can save employers in all industries from many problems, but they are particularly important in certain lines of work. Employees that will be responsible for the well being of others have a larger chance of effecting the lives and health of others and, therefore, should always be subject to a pre-employment background check.

Because of similar reasoning, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger of California recently passed a bill that requires the state's 70,000 emergency medical technicians to be the subjects of mandatory criminal background checks. Last year he vetoed similar legislation after saying that he disapproved over changes that were made to the bill that made it possible to keep secret certain details about the misbehavior of these professionals.

The Assembly bill that Schwarzenegger has agreed to stands to bring the licensing and certification system in California up to date. In 2007 a variety of problems were discovered with the system during the Bee investigation.

"EMTs provide vital services that help Californians in their time of need, and because of the critical role they play, it is important to that we have a universal statewide standard that will prevent those who are unqualified or have a past criminal history of becoming EMTs," said Schwarzenegger in a statement put out by his office.

"By signing these bills into law, we are increasing safety and accountability within the emergency medical services field and ensuring that Californians have the best EMTs available at any given moment," he said.

The legislation, Assembly Bill 2917, which made the mandatory background checks possible, was originally introduced by Assemblyman Alberto Torrico. In addition to the background checks, the bill also makes it where EMTs have to be certified in the county that they will be working in and will create a statewide EMT registry.

This is expected to help to stop EMTs who have criminal records or negative employment histories from trying to obtain certification in different counties in hopes of finding a weak spot. The Bee investigation found that this problem had been occurring for some time.

The registry will make it possible to track EMTs throughout California. In order to pay for this, EMT fees will be raised. According to Torrico, the statewide system will make it possible to create a standards for certification, disciplinary orders and conditions of probation for EMTs that have gotten themselves into trouble.

In addition to this, EMT employers will now be able to check to see if an applicant has been subject to a background check already and if they have had past actions against either their certification or license.

Background Checks on Contractors Made Possible by Website

Background checks have been proven to protect workplaces from a variety of problems including negligent hiring suits, employee endangerment and office theft. Because of this, more and more employers are investigating applicants before making job offers. Although this may be a great improvement, many independent contractors who are only used for a short period of time still aren’t being looked into. These individuals may include those making repairs to the building or handling technical issues.

In New York, the State Attorney General’s office recently launched a new website that serves to allow consumers to run a small scale background check on home improvement contractors. This will help to ensure that individuals do not use a company that has a history of issues. Users will be able to see outstanding complaints lodged against the company and legal actions taken against the firm in question.

Although this website may not give all the information that could be out their on individuals employed by the firms in question and is limited to one industry, it is a step in the right direction. Employers can save themselves a lot of time and money by making sure that they do not hire contracts to make repairs on their offices that do not have a professional history.

“My great hope for this site is this helps prevent a lot of problems. That this helps consumers to understand more about when they enter into the contracting process that they have to take reasonable steps to protect themselves. But they also want to check out thoroughly the background of the people that they're hiring,” said Chuck Bell, who is the director of the Consumers Union Program.

Background Checks Hits Differ Depending on Industry

According to the AmericanDataBank.com, 45 percent of all potential employees have either a criminal record, a bad driving record, worker’s compensation claim or a bad credit history. Only a naive employer would simply trust applicants to divulge such information. This makes background checks necessary for businesses that want to make sure that they are making the right hiring decisions.

Interestingly enough, according to statistics gathered from 2002 to 20033, the occurrence of hits on background checks differences from industry to industry. Where criminal history is considered, food services and stores have the highest occurrence of individuals who have been in trouble with the law. Approximately 8 percent of jobseekers in this area of employment are found to have a criminal history, where as only 4 percent in business services and 5 percent in manufacturing and transportation had committed a criminal act. This means that background checks are especially important for employers in food services.

AmericanDataBank.com also found that certain areas of employment have a higher occurrence of applicants falsifying information on their resumes. Statistics gathered from the results of background checks show that 89 percent of individuals in the transportation industry misrepresents themselves on applications. Manufacturing had the lowest occurrence of this, with only 42 percent of applicants lying to employers about their education or work experience.

Another aspect of an applicant’s past that employers often look into is credit history. Background checks found that 51 percent of employees in food services had a history of not paying bills, while 40 percent in health services and only 28 percent of those in transportation had investigations that yielded negative reports.

In order to avoid suffering the mistake of a negative hiring decision, employers should not neglect to investigate potential new hires, especially in industries that have a higher occurrence of hits according to statistics.

Background Checks Save Employers Money

With the economy being somewhat unstable, many businesses are suffering. As a result, employers are looking for a way to cut corners. Some seem the believe that, for the time being, they can get away without conducting background checks on new applicants. This can have horrible results!

Employers that do not conduct background checks stand to lose a lot of money in the event of a negligent hiring suit or a variety of other hiring mistakes. For example, according to the American Certified Fraud Examiners, the average amount that an organization with fewer than 100 employees loses per case of fraud is $190,000.

On top of this, law firm Reish & Luftman says that employers lose 60 percent of all negligent hiring/supervision jury trials. Businesses can avoid these legal costs by properly investigating their potential new hires.

Without conducting a background check an employer does not know if they can trust a new hire and rightfully so. According to Insurance & Technology, 30 percent of workers who launch an attack on the company have criminal records. By simply investigating an applicant, an employer can lower the level of risk to their organization.

Since workplace violence accounts for 18 percent of all violent crime, according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, employers should consider protecting their office place from such. A good portion of individuals who commit such crimes have a history of violence, which would show up during a background check and give the employer advance notice before making a drastic hiring mistake.

Employers who think that dropping background checks is great way to save money should also realize that, according to a Right Management Survey, businesses that have to replace a bad hire usually spend as much as 3 times the salary of the job in question to correct their mistake.

Budgets may have to be adjusted to make background checks possible, but companies should never cut corners when it comes to safety and making good hiring decisions. Remember, a business is only worth as much as the individuals working for it.

60 Second Background Checks Help Florida Law Enforcement

The speed in which the results of a background check are returned makes a huge difference to employers. As cliché as it may sound, time is money. Every day that goes by without a staff position filled, means that the company in question is performing below their standard and less work is getting done. Employers know that the sooner an hiring decision can be made, then the sooner they can begin to profit.

This is why many employers in Collier County Florida could soon benefit from the fact that local Sheriff’s Office has changed the way the way they are doing background checks. The law enforcement agency has introduced a new electronic finger print device that yields results almost automatically.

The device that is allowing Collier County to now conduct instant background checks is called rapid ID. It enables the agency to use the print to discover if an individual has a warrant out for their arrest. It electronically scans two fingerprints, then sends then to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and enters them into the state’s database.

“We get a light signal to determine if we have a hit or not. The we go back to the laptop to determine what kind of hit it is,” said Don Hunter, Collier County’s Sheriff. “Very extensive criminal histories- including carrying concealed firearms, things like that. They are good things to know about the people you are dealing with.”

After a match is found, the agency has information delivered electronically with in under a minute. At this time, the sheriff’s office is not allowing others the use of this information, but employers could benefit from this move in the right direction.

Currently, Collier County is the only law enforcement agency in Florida using the Rapid ID system.

Background Checks on Educators Delayed

Background checks(Click here) are not only to protect employers from making bad hiring decisions. In many cases such investigations help to keep safe all that come in contact with an employee, which is why they are particularly important in educational setting. If school administrators neglect to or are unable to conduct a thorough background check, students are potentially at risk.

Due to a backup at the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation, many school districts in the state are experiencing problems receiving background checks on teachers this year.

According to Newark City Schools Personnel Director Cara Riddel, state law is now requiring that many certificated employees submit their fingerprints to both the BCI&I and the FBI by Friday.

She went on to say that approximately 80 percent of teachers and administrators already did so in March. This year there is a greater number of teachers and administrators having to submit to background checks due the fact the addition of investigations on educators with permanent or eight-year licenses has been added to the normal five-year license checks.

Despite the backlog, Jennifer Brindisi, a spokesperson for the BCI&I, says that the agency should be able to process the remainder without to much more of a delay.

Brindisi says that the BCI&I is all but caught up. "We're working as efficiently as we can," she said.

The bureau is able to process around 20,000 background checks a day, however this figure is subject to the complexity of the investigation in question and the offenses discovered. The increase in the number of checks required has caused the bureau to take as long as 30 days to process some of the fingerprints submitted.

"It's not as quick as what people hoped," said Brindisi.

For the most part, the delay is not expected to effect the school districts to any large degree. If an investigation does yield proof that one of the individuals who submitted their fingerprints is not suited to be around students due to a criminal past, things could get complicated.

Background Check Firm Creates New Website

In an effort to better serve new and existing users, one North Carolina pre-employment background check firm has created a new web-based service to assist in criminal records investigations.

Public Data Works Inc., which is based in Winston-Salem recently announced their new division. The company has created a website called NCPublicData.com which assist employers in protecting their workplaces.

The company also hopes that many job applicants will use the site to verify their own information. Since background checks can sometimes yield information that is less than accurate due to problems with one’s social security number or identity theft, many experts suggest doing this before applying for a job. By doing this, job seekers have the ability to correct false information before it costs them a position with a company due to no fault of their own.

NCPublicData.com will search all county records for the user, which stands to make the background check process easier for many smaller employers. Public Data Works has set the site up so that users will be charged a reasonable flat fee for the services used.

According to the company, all criminal records that are open to the public in North Carolina can be accessed through the website. For companies in the area that prefer to conduct their own background checks, NCPublicdata.com stands to drastically decrease the amount of energy a hiring manager expends trying to locate all the proper information by allowing users to find it all in one convenient location.

Although the website deals solely with North Carolina’s public records, a toll-free number is provided for users who need to access information from other states, such as motor vehicle and sex offender records.

Background Checks and Small Businesses

Many individuals with something to hide often work at smaller businesses. The reason for this is simple; due to limited budgets, smaller employers are often more lenient in conducting pre-employment background checks.

These individuals often cost their employers a good deal of money through theft, drug related accidents and harassment or negligent hiring suits. Because of this, employers may think they are saving money by not investigating applicants, but in reality they stand to lose more than most firms charge to conduct an investigation.

Instead of neglecting background checks altogether, smaller employers should consider either conducting the investigation themselves or scaling down the process to fit their budget. Several options exist to make sure that the business is protected without having to pay huge fees.

Websites now exist that enable an employer to conduct a background check themselves. Depending on the site, the manner of payment may be different but options exist that offer monthly flat rates or pay as you go prices. The second of these two choices give employers that do limiting hiring the ability to only access the site, an therefore pay for its use, when absolutely necessary.

Employers who wish to conduct background checks themselves should brush up on their local laws to make sure that they do not violate applicants rights. For the most part, this information can be located through a variety of sources online.

Another thing that small businesses should never forget to do is alert applicants that they may be the subject of a background check. Even employers who do not have room in their budget for such an investigation should have job seekers sign a consent form.

In many cases, those who are hiding particularly dark pasts will be discourage from seeking employment from the company due to fear of a background check. These forms can also be written to give an employer the write to conduct the investigation at a later date after funding is no longer an issue.