May 23 - KGO
Recently, San Francisco International Airport quietly began screening airport workers. The TSA is launching an effort nationwide to address one of the weaknesses that was never dealt with after 9/11, even as passengers faced multiple layers of security. ABC7 gets an exclusive look at the screening process in Assignment 7.
When we fly, we undergo heavy security, metal detectors, bags x-rayed, physical searches -- but most airport employees come and go daily without facing any of that.
Just ask these two contractors, who have been working at SFO for 15 years.
Mike Gaines, security system contractor: "Usually we just kind of came rolling through."
The Transportation Security Administration is trying to close that security gap. SFO is now assigning teams of screeners to surprise workers at entrances to secure areas. (more)
May 23, 2007-PRWEB
Kroll Releases Annual Background Screening "Hit Ratio" Report - Report reveals upward trend in percentage of job candidates with "red flags."
New York (PRWEB) May 23, 2007 -- Employers are seeing an increasing number of "red flags" in job candidate background checks, according to a new 2006 report from Kroll, the world's leading risk consulting company.
Kroll's annual Hit Ratio Report and Industry Analysis, released by the firm's Background Screening division, reveals another year-over-year increase in criminal record hits (from 8.5% to 9.1%) and discrepancies in past employment verifications (from 36.5% to 49.4%) and education verifications (from 14.1% to 21.6%).
The complete report, available on Kroll's website under "Insights & Reports," provides hit ratios for the eight most common employment screening criteria, plus detailed analyses of industry-specific hit ratios for 16 industries.
Barry Nadell, a senior vice president of Kroll's Background Screening division and author of the report, attributes the upward trend to four key factors: (more)
February 22, 2007-YourJobZone.com
Everybody is aware of the sensational cases of workplace violence, where the perpetrator revisits his old workplace and shoots his previous workmates, and perhaps his former employer, then turns the gun on himself. It makes a good story, and then is forgotten about. The cause is never known because the killer is dead.
Not all cases of workplace violence are like that: far from it in fact. In the type of case that occurs every day, an employee resorts to violence for predictable or unpredictable reasons. It will not reach the press unless it results in death. The problem is that all too frequently it does. In fact, workplace violence is the most common reason for workplace death after accidents involving professional drivers.
There seems to be no government impetus to reduce these deaths, even though there are two major changes in law that could help. Both of these are connected with employment screening, which is carried out by many employers prior to employing new employees. (more)
2007 The Associated Press
Democratic congressmen say at least three dozen railroad workers -- including some from Illinois -- may have been fired unfairly because they failed background checks recommended by the Homeland Security Department.
Civil rights activist Jesse Jackson and House Judiciary Chairman John Conyers said Thursday they're trying to find out why railroad workers were told they were dismissed because of directives from the Transportation Security Administration.
Jackson went to Washington Thursday to enlist support for the railroad workers. They are ex-felons who had clean employment records but were fired after background checks by an Internet-based investigation revealed their pasts.
Jackson says many were hired under work-release programs.
January 31, 2007-Financial Post
When Debbie Bennett prepares to hire a new employee she has to be careful to conduct the appropriate level of reference and security checks without running afoul of human rights and privacy law. Ms. Bennett, vice-president of human resources and finance at the Ottawa Citizen and the incoming chairwoman of the Human Resources Professionals Association of Ontario, says: "You can't do a background check willy-nilly." Rather, she says, there has got to be a "bona fide reason behind it."
For example, Ms. Bennett says, she would not hire somebody with access to money without checking to see if there were charges for embezzlement or fraud on their record. "I don't care if it's a DWI charge unless it's an obligation of the job."
As Ms. Bennett knows, the most important decision any manager makes is hiring the right person for a job. That's because the damage a bad hire inflicts on a business reputation can be catastrophic, says Adrian Miedema, a labour and employment lawyer at Fraser Milner Casgrain in Toronto and author of the HR Manager's Guide to Background Checks and Pre-employment Testing. (more)
