Over 8 percent of applicants have criminal records; 26 percent inaccurately report past employment
The importance of applicant background checks and employment verification was made clear by a survey that revealed 8.3 percent of all job applicants have criminal records.
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Who is checking the background checkers?
Some 80 percent of employers now require background checks for all potential employees, according to the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse (PRC), a consumer rights advocacy group in San Diego…. But what if a background check is in error? Read more

Biz (off)beat: Potential employers not afraid to pry
You're qualified. You've mastered the interview. And the drug test? No problem. That may not be enough to land the job, not if you have a past and try to hide it. Read more

Study Finds FBI Criminal Database Search Ineffective for Employment Background Checks
As US employers increasingly utilize criminal background checks in their hiring process, the National Association of Professional Background Screeners (NAPBS) has identified one source of information that employers should avoid: the FBI Criminal Database. Read more.

Background checks screen hires: Extensive investigations becoming more common
Extensive investigations becoming more common. Medium- and small-sized companies are increasingly using background checks to verify whether job applicants are fibbing or telling the truth about their education, employment history and even their credit records… Read more.

Potential Employees Checked Out
Job applicants are having a harder time keeping their skeletons in the closet as more companies and organizations turn to background checks for help with hiring decisions. Read more.

The Importance of a Complete Background Check
In a recent background check for a manufacturing client, InfoLink Screening Services, a national background screening firm, learned that the applicant transposed the last two numbers of her Social Security number (SSN) and provided the employer a false date of birth (DOB) when she applied for employment. Based on the information the applicant provided, InfoLink might have reported “No Record Found” if its Quality Assurance had not identified discrepancies which lead to InfoLink’s uncovering 8 criminal convictions on the applicant’s record. Read more.

Background Checks Could Have Problems
More and more employers require employee background checks, which is why it's no surprise more and more private companies are popping up offering to provide them. A Target Five Investigation shows it can be risky business. A bad background check nearly cost Eric Williams a job. Read more.

Pre-Employment Screening A Must For Employers
What's the worst thing an employer can find out after hiring a new employee? That there should have been a good background check. It could have saved a lot of money, time and frustration and a lot more. InfoLink Screening Services performs pre-employment background checks, drug testing and employment physical exams nationwide. Read more.

Volunteer Firefighters May Face Background Checks
Volunteer firefighters are trained to put out fires, but Caldwell County fire officials say that wasn't the case when a vacant home was intentionally set in flames on June 23 by volunteer firefighters.
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Protect Your Organization Against Negligent Hiring Suits
Speaking to a packed house June 20 during his session at the SHRM Annual Conference and Exposition, Nadell said that nothing takes the place of thorough applicant background checking. However, no background checking process is foolproof, so it's crucial for companies to know how to obtain the most accurate information while remaining compliant with the myriad federal and state laws that regulate the industry. Read more.

Background checks get another look
High School administrators review the district’s pre-employment background check process after the arrests of employees working with students. A background check through the state’s Crime Information Bureau did not reveal prior criminal history. Read more…

LexisNexis: Files May Have Been Breached
LexisNexis Says Thieves May Have Breached Computer Files containing the personal information of 310,000 people, a tenfold increase over a previous estimate of how much data was stolen from the information broker. Read more…

At least 30 FEMA inspectors had criminal records
At least 30 inspectors who visited disaster victims' homes or verified damage claims for federal aid had criminal records for offenses such as embezzlement, drug possession, robbery and drunken driving, a newspaper reported Sunday. Read more…

Criminal background checks incomplete
Employers and volunteer organizations are increasingly turning to national commercial database searches - but experts say the nationwide tallies are often full of holes, and contain as few as 70 percent of all felony conviction records, leading in turn to a false sense of security. Read more…

Employers Win Most Drug Testing Cases
David Shadovitz, Human Resource Executive

A new book released by the Institute for a Drug Free Workplace in Washington reveals that employers are winning most drug testing related court battles. Employers prevailed in roughly two-thirds of the nearly 1,200 legal decisions on drug testing, according to the book, 2004-2005 Guide to State and Federal Drug Testing Laws.

In the last year,” says Gina M. Petro, counsel to the institute and a co-author of the guide, “87 court decisions upheld drug testing, and 46 did not.” Since the group began tracking suits in the mid-1980’s, employers prevailed in 825 cases, while challenges have been successful in only 374 cases. The numbers are somewhat higher for federal court cases, in which employers have prevailed 76 percent of the time.