Do You Need To Worry About Pre-Employment Background Checks

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The pre-employment background check is becoming more and more common place. As employers work to protect their places of employment from individuals that aren’t the best for the job or could pose a dangers to others, these background checks happen to be the tool of choice. After all, your past can say a lot about the person that you are and the person that you are likely to be, too. Yet, if you don’t have anything to hide in your past, should you really worry about what happens when a background check is done on you?

You Don’t Want It

Even for many individuals that have nothing in their past to be worried about, this type of privacy invasion is enough to bother them. In most cases, you can refuse to have one done, assuming that it isn’t a legal requirement for the position with the home such as when you are working with children or in the police department. Yet, doing this could potentially stop you from being hired anyway. Someone that refuses a background check is okay, but someone else that applies for the same position with the same qualifications and passes that pre-employment background check with flying colors is more likely to obtain the position.

Another concern that many have is the fact that the information on their pre-employment background check could mistakenly provide the wrong information. Perhaps there is information on your background check that is wrong. You could be suffering without realizing why. Or, perhaps it will uncover something that is potentially harmful but shouldn’t have anything to do with the current position in question. Sometimes, information can be taken out of context by the investigator and it could, ultimately effect your position with the company. Even some information that may be illegal for the investigator to consider in the hiring process could turn up. Although they technically can not use this to not hire you, it may leave them with a bad taste in their mouths, which could sway them the other way for other reasons.

Background checks are a potential nightmare for some individuals. If you have nothing to worry about, or so you think, you should still run a background check on yourself to determine if there are any potential problems lurking there. Doing so can at least give you peace of mind. Everyone needs to know what is in their background check.

Employment Law Attorneys Help Resolving Your Workplace Issues In A Legal Manner

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Every country has its own law of employment that can differ from others. For instance, the laws of UK will never be the same as that of, Switzerland. These laws are also known as labor laws as these laws are amended for the protection of employment interests or workforce. Employees are less potent and poorer class than the employer, who is considered much stronger and richer in the both. Such laws are constructed to provide fair justice to both the parties because complexities might influence any of the party. In such situations, the employment law attorneys play a very imperative role. They help both parties to understand the significance of legal terminologies.

Whenever you feel harassed at your workplace or your rights are denied in the official setup, then seeking help from lawyers would be a great idea. But make sure that you are hiring a lawyer who has gained an expertise in practicing employment laws. These lawyers will serve you as the guardians of law and protect your rights. They work cooperatively to provide clear understanding of your legal rights by offering best options. The law of employment is itself a wide arena, which comprises of all kinds of legal requirements and guidelines that should never be violated.

In case you are having issues at your workplace then there comes the need of an employment lawyer. Some situations in which you might need some legal assistance are: termination of employment, discrimination, mistreatment, etc. For example, if your employer wants to terminate your employment due to a substantial drop in performance that you are not able to improve, reaching out to attorney in such case would be highly recommended. It doesn’t matter what legal reason your employer gives, it is your duty to discuss about it with your lawyer. He will assure that the entire process is carried in a legal manner as per labor and employment law without resulting into any kind of negative influences on you.

You can face numerous employment law issues at your workplace. You might not be treated well or treated in an illegal manner. It can be in any form including unfair dismissal, contracts complications, or any other issues. A good attorney will give the best advice for resolving such issues. Even the employment discrimination issues are pretty common now-a-days. It can be either due to age, skin color, religion, gender, physical appearance, sexuality, nationality etc. And the discrimination at workplace could result into prejudice, racial tension and a stressed work environment. It is not at all a favorable situation and can negatively impact a person’s job, career as well as his or her personal life. The lawyers examine each issue carefully and help you to decide whether you should move forward for a court case or not.

Fight for your rights if you have been treated in a wrong manner since a long period of time. Seek help from attorneys who will educate you about your rights and responsibilities. If you are facing any issues like racial slurs, improper conduct or comments towards you, it is your duty to discuss your problems with the attorney if you want proper justice.

Hiring A Professional Pre Employment Background Screening Company – Advantages For Human Resource

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With increasing competition in job market, there is also an increase of fake credentials and forge documents provided by the candidates to get a higher position. These types of candidates not only deprive of the right of other candidate who have the original credentials, but also dangerous for the company itself. Therefore, the importance of pre employment background screening has been increasing with every single day.

Background screening of an employee is primarily a work of Human Resource department of a company. But most of the companies hire professional background screening companies to do the task for them. There are several good reasons for hiring a professional company. We will discuss few of them in little detail.

First and foremost reason for hiring a professional screening company is that, if a screening company is good, it will certainly have years of experience in employment verification, criminal background screening, educational document verification and so on. Hence, these companies can screen the background of a candidate far better than the in-house screening done by the human resource department.

Another good reason for hiring a professional background screening service provider is that they do it very fast. A first priority of any HR department is to complete the hiring process as quickly as possible. And if HR gets involve in screening of a candidate, the task may get slow because of other human resource related course. It can become a hassle for HR and for candidate both. So HR prefers to hire a background screening company do the process fast.

Furthermore, cost saving is one thing that make a company to hire screening company. If HR does it by itself, it will need in-house professionals to do the screening of candidates. Means company has to pay these professionals to do the screening, other costs are also involved. On the other hand, HR finds services of background screening companies cost effective. The reason of cost effectiveness is that these companies already have established networks; they are specialized in their work. They find no hassle in doing background screening of an employee anywhere in the world, and hence become cost effective.

Conclusion

Pre employment background screening is one most important task which no company wants to overlook. But this work needs specialization, and background screening companies usually have years of experience and are specialized in executing the task efficiently. Therefore, HR department should think about hiring a good background screening company before establishing an in-house section for screening of a job candidate.

Mitigating Seasonal And Temporary Recruitment Risks

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In today’s economy, seasonal and temporary staff can be found in audit offices as well as the shop floor and in the ski resort. As companies strive to have the exact amount of people on board to fulfil fluctuating business demand, finding optimal temporary staff has become a priority for many employers. So what are the risks and rewards associated with temporary staff and what steps can organisations take to build a reliable and flexible workforce to meet seasonal as well as ongoing business demands?

According to the latest figures from the International Confederation of Private Employment Agencies (CIETT), the UK has the highest number of temporary workers in Europe, with over 1.3 million temps working in the UK; thats around 5% of the UK workforce.

Since the 1970s, temporary staffing has expanded rapidly to become a significant feature of many national labour markets. Temporary employment, be it seasonal, ad hoc or interim work, is now a permanent feature of the business landscape and for many organisations, it is a form of working that has become integral to business strategy. Indeed, recent research from the University of Manchester has found that the recession has led many firms to have in place a buffer zone of temporary agency workers. During tough economic times, firms may increase the proportion of their workforces which are externally sourced from temporary recruitment agencies as a means of managing the risks of any future recessions. While for most firms, this strategy is a short term one, there is also evidence that it has developed into a longer-term approach to workforce management.

Temporary staff can be quickly deployed to cope with unforeseen demand, cover sickness, holiday absence and maternity leave and provide extra support due to seasonal demand like the Christmas rush or financial year end. During times of recession, using temporary staff also allows organisations, at least in the short term, to avoid the costly need to sack permanent, core members of the workforce.

The use of temporary staff can also help to reduce the fixed costs associated with labour hiring and recruitment. Temporary workers, for example, represent a relatively low cost method of screening for potential permanent employees, monitoring their on their job performance and culture fit. Recruiting permanent staff from a pool of temporary workers enables businesses to try them out for size over a longer period of time than would be possible under most probation schemes. Conversely, for other employers, using temporary staff can be a way of securing additional time to use for searching for permanent employees.
In more recent years, there has also been a rise in the use of independent contractors by organisations. Contract workers provided added flexibility when a company requires it. They can do one off jobs or provide a service which no other member of staff can provide. In many cases, they can often begin work at short notice which helps employers to meet a sudden demand. The added benefit for the employer is that they are not responsible for their PAYE or national insurance contributions.

Clearly, hiring temporary staff offers a number of specific advantages to employers. However, they do come in all shapes and sizes. The good ones can help a company thrive in the difficult times or offer valuable help and support at short notice. The very best temporary workers are often highly motivated, some seizing on the opportunity to gain valuable experience and may see the role as a stepping stone to a permanent position. Others may resent the fact the role is not permanent, they might lack motivation and commitment and could be detrimental to a companys business. At their very worst, a temporary worker may gain employment under false pretences, which potentially could have very serious repercussions.

The organisations which tend to have seasonal peaks and a greater demand for temporary workers, also tend to be organisations where these seasonal or temporary employees are most likely to have close access to customers, either directly (in the case of retail and the hospitality industry) or indirectly (in the case of call centres or financial institutions). In both cases, the implications of placing the wrong person in a temporary job could be severe and have potentially high financial, legal and reputational consequences.
Experian has found that organisations use temporary staff and contractors while largely ignoring or being unaware of the risks. While the timescales associated with recruiting temporary staff are short, this should not be an excuse for not carrying out appropriate background screening on temporary staff. By doing so, these employers are taking massive risks affecting their own organisations and the public at large.
So what are the specific risks and what implications do these have for employers?

Many organisations, which have fluctuating seasonal and temporary demands, employ a significant number of migrant workers. The immigration, Asylum and Nationality Act 2006, makes it a criminal offence to employ someone who is subject to immigration control and who has no permission to work in the UK. In 2009, the UK Border Agency imposed 2,210 civil penalties on employers of illegal workers totalling 22.1m, almost double the number of civil penalties issued in 2008.
With forged identity documents often very hard to spot without specialist equipment or Scotland Yard level expertise, the importance of electronic identity validation and appropriate background screening should not be underestimated when it comes to temporary employees and complying with immigration legislation.

The Corporate Manslaughter Act places a legal obligation on employers to ensure that the staff they employ do not pose a threat to themselves or others. For sectors like retail and hospitality, ensuring that customers have a safe and pleasant experience is critical to their success but dependent on having honest, reliable and trustworthy staff. In order to protect themselves from legal and financial repercussions further down the line, organisations must satisfy themselves that the temporary staff they employ have the appropriate qualifications, a full and valid employment record and no previous convictions.

The possibility of hiring someone who may pose a direct criminal threat may seem rare, but the fact that the value of reported fraud in the UK has increased by 153% since 2003 reminds us how serious a threat this is to UK businesses. The latest figures from CIFAS, the UKs fraud prevention service, show a substantial rise in the number of cases of employee fraud identified in 2009 compared to 2008. CIFAS also reports an increase in the number of cases of employees selling personal data. The implication of this finding is that more staff are being approached by organised criminals and bribed to reveal personal customer data. Indeed, it has been claimed by the police that one in ten of Glasgows financial call centres has been infiltrated by criminal gangs.
Clearly, organisations which hold large data repositories or deal with sensitive financial information are at greater risk from insider fraud. In these days of identity theft, criminals will pay a healthy price for personal information and the temptation for someone in financial difficulties is clear. For these organisations, temporary or contract employees are often the biggest threats when it comes to employee fraud. Generally, they have less to lose, have less loyalty to the company and can also have wide access to sensitive customer information. Fraudsters are also more likely to obtain entry to an organisation through temporary or contracting roles where background screening may be lax or often non-existent.
When it comes to combating employee fraud, these organisations should consider developing an employee screening policy which includes carrying out identity checks, credit checking and criminal record checks specifically on temporary and contract staff and not just those in permanent positions.

Top tips for meeting seasonal recruitment demands and minimising exposure to risk are:
Dont rely on the recruitment agencys screening process – organisations should also undertake internal background screening of temporary applicants
Build a temporary talent bank consider pre-screening a group of recurring seasonal employees who come back during the busy periods
Use background screening to deter timewasters and potential fraudsters – Experians own experience has found that its not uncommon for as many as 15 per cent of applicants to drop out when made aware that a thorough background check is used in the recruitment process
Effective workforce planning – plan well in advance for busy periods and line up a pre-screened workforce that can be called upon at short notice
Outsource the background screening process not only will this save time and money but will also ensure legal obligations are met

Employment Eligibility Attorney Helps Verifying Employment Status

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Its been years that you are running an organization on the soils of USA with a good number of employees. You are doing well and want to stay here for lifetime. So, you must have authenticated your eligibility and identity to avoid any legal issue for working here in the United States. According to the Immigration Reform and Control Act, every employer must verify his individual identity and eligibility by filling up the verification form known as I-9. Every employer must preserve all duly filled-up forms for at least three years right from the hiring date. So, if you have not yet filled up the I-9 compliance form, get in touch with an employment eligibility attorney and get all your issues sorted.

According to law, no one is allowed to run any organization without having the I-9 compliance form. Its the only document that can prove that an employer has the legal right to work. The U.S Immigration and Customs Enforcement rules have been made so stricter that employers should comply with each and every rule or otherwise they will be subject to legal actions. While filling up the form, employees might come across legal complications and other questions. In this respect, an employment eligibility attorney can be a perfect guide.

By accessing the internet, you will come across several websites that can help you provide information on employment eligibility lawyers. Make sure that you choose the best of them or rather someone who is knowledgeable and experienced in this field.

Remember, the proceedings should be done in an orderly manner which can only be possible with the help of an employment eligibility attorney. These legal experts are aware of all the rules and regulations that can help one proceed in the right manner. Its advisable not to hire someone new for this case or otherwise you might fall into complications.

Those who are foreigners must take permission to get legally employed in the United States of America from U.S. employers. However, those who hold green cards do not require permission since he/she is considered a permanent resident of the US and is allowed to work there for lifetime. On the other hand, a foreign diplomat will require a work permit to extend his stay in the US.

A work permit or EAD or Employment Authorization Document looks like a laminated card which is issued not only to employers but also to a visa lottery program, a family member and even to an asylum.