Many employers respond to a prior employment verification by just verifying name and hire/separation dates. The reason is usually that they want to avoid a defamation lawsuit. My purpose in this article is to highlight the “other side” of the coin i.e. negligent referral. What is negligent referral? Courts have increasingly held that employers have […]

Why is it important to know how your background investigation firm performs criminal conviction searches? There is a right way to do the background investigation and a short-cut way to do the background investigation. Shortcuts can result in fines and penalties and lots of legal trouble. First some background on the process. Most firms cannot […]

Verifying an education degree is an important basic step that is often overlooked by organizations. Various studies indicate that the falsification of the existence of a degree occurs approximately 25% to 33% of the time. Verification of a degree is obviously very important if its achievement is a necessary requirement of qualifying for the position. […]

The motor vehicle record is from State Department of Motor Vehicles. It is an excellent tool to help determine if the applicant is a “responsible person” and can indicate how past behavior might impact future job performance. This record is of course a must if the job requires driving company vehicles or driving their own […]

Is your firm performing background checks covered by the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA)? If you are getting background checks from a Consumer Reporting Agency, you are covered under the FCRA. Suppose your firm is not complying with the disclosure requirements of the Fair Credit Reporting Act. You might think, what’s the big deal? So […]