A Texas horror story
On Sunday, September 23, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram ran a major story by Darren Barbee about the Texas Department of Aging and Disability Service and that agency’s background check and certification procedures for nurse aides. The headline was “Nurse aides let back into jobs despite ban: Texas recertifies some caregivers who were disciplined in theft and abuse cases.” Barbee described the way things work this way.
The tales found in the Texas Department of Aging and Disability Service’s disciplinary files can be savage, sad and stomach-turning. But they are intended to serve an essential purpose: protecting Texas grandparents, disabled children and the terminally ill from abusive or dishonest nurse aides and other caregivers.
But dangerous blind spots plague the system that oversees them, a Star-Telegram examination has found. Across the state, caregivers facing discipline for sexual misconduct, theft, abuse — and a fatal case of neglect — were all able to find and hold new jobs.
There are lessons here for you, even if you’re not in the nursing home business or in the government.
Lesson number one. No background check system will help you if you don’t use it. You can’t drive a nail with a hammer you never pick up. Many nursing homes simply didn’t check on the background of the people they hired.
Lesson number two. You have to act on what you find. If you use the system you’ve got, but don’t do anything with the information you get, you’re wasting money and putting yourself and your employees at risk.
Lesson […]
Tell them why and tell them what
When Judy Krezmer put together her program titled “Background Checks and Security Clearances” for the Pennsylvania College of Technology, she zeroed in on important advice for job seekers.
The current emphasis on security and liability has made employers a lot more cautious about who they hire. No matter what job you apply for, you are likely to go through some kind of check — criminal, background or credit.
Krezmer, operations and marketing manager for DePasquale Staffing Services in Williamsport, Pennsylvania, had two key pieces of advice for job seekers. She told them to expect a background check when they apply for a job. And, she told them to keep their noses and records clean.
More and more businesses are conducting background checks on the people they consider hiring. But it’s not common practice yet so you’ll probably have job seekers showing up with questions about what you do and why you do it. It pays to have answers ready.
Tell job seekers that the background checks are for everyone’s protection. They’re a key step toward assuring a safe workplace. They help you, the employer, hire people that other staff members will feel comfortable with as colleagues.
Make sure you have answers to the questions you’ll get about your process, too. Be able to describe the checks you perform. Know what your applicants’ rights are so that you can explain them.
Homeowners associations are using background checks
Background checks aren’t just for the government, employers and landlords any more. Now homeowners associations are getting into the background check act. The Clarion-Ledger from Clarion, Mississippi reports the following.
A new development in Jackson requires criminal background checks for its potential residents. And a set of tony subdivisions building country French- and European-style homes in Rankin County has banned registered sex offenders in its protective covenants.
Homeowners Association is a general term that’s used for a variety of associations that manage common interest developments. The association has the authority to enforce the covenants, conditions, and restrictions and to manage the common amenities of the development.
Many homeowners associations have required background checks on renters for quite some time. What’s new is the increasing use of background checks for people who want to buy property in the development.
There’s good news and danger here. The good news is that more and more people are understanding that, in a world where everyone is mobile, you need some way to make sure that you’re protected from people who might want to do you harm. The good news, also, is that there are tools available to help you.
The danger is that the information you get on a background check is only worth something if you apply judgment to it. Many members of homeowner association boards may not understand that background check information is a starting point for analysis and not the final word.
I’m betting that if we see a big upsurge in homeowner association use […]
It can happen to anyone
Just when you were thinking that big, sophisticated, organizations have so many resources that they don’t have background check problems, you catch sight of an article in the Washington Post with the title: “Clinton Campaign Cites Flawed Background Check.” Here’s the core of the article.
A spokesman for Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton’s presidential campaign yesterday blamed a faulty background check for the campaign’s failure to raise any questions about Norman Hsu, a previously unknown businessman who suddenly became one of its biggest fundraisers.
Though a commonly used public record search shows that Hsu had multiple business lawsuits filed against him dating to 1985, filed for bankruptcy in 1990, and was a defendant in two 1991 California court matters listed as possible criminal cases, the campaign said its computer checks used insufficient search terms that did not include the two middle names Hsu used in the California case. “In all of these searches, the campaign used the name Norman Hsu, which, like the search results of other committees and campaigns, did not turn up disqualifying information,” Clinton spokesman Howard Wolfson explained.
For Senator Clinton’s campaign, this is a political issue. For you and me it’s the inspiration to check our own background check system.
Check to make sure that you’re doing enough. If you’re just doing a pre-employment credit check, should you be doing a criminal background check as well?
Check to make sure you do it when you should. Results that reach you too late to help you make a decision are almost […]
Thoughts from a pro
Sam Paris is a professional background checker who contracts out to large companies. There’s an article about him and his views of reference checking today in Mass High Tech. You’ll need a subscription to read the story that’s titled “Lie Detection.” If you don’t have a subscription, here are some of the interesting and helpful points.
How many applicants do you think misrepresent their education or employment history? Paris says it’s about 30 percent and that many of them go to great lengths to do so. Lesson: make sure you dig deep enough.
Paris also tracks trends in the background checking industry. He says that the number of companies hiring background checkers has risen dramatically. The article tell us that, “Fifteen years ago, he said, 85 percent of the Fortune 500 companies he surveyed conducted drug tests but less than 60 percent did background checks. These days, he said, 85 percent to 90 percent run a background check.”
Among the reasons for that increase is the cost of a bad hire. First, there’s dollars. It may take six months for it to become obvious that a person was a bad choice, but you pay that person for the whole time, plus you have to hire a replacement. And there’s the cost in morale. While they’re there, a bad hire can destroy morale and drag down the productivity of others.
Paris suggests that you use background and pre-employment credit checks. He also suggests using online resources including the social networking sites and alumni […]
Hiring advice
Texas business columnist Dave Beck just wrote a piece for the San Antonio Express-News headlined: “Watch for ‘red flags’ when hiring.” Here’s the lead.
The rewards of smart hires are generally well-known. Longer retention, reduced turnover, increased employee satisfaction and morale, and decreased human resources costs are a few of the more obvious benefits. Less obvious is how to secure the right people. In fact, finding that right fit for your business sometimes seems more difficult than ever. To improve your hiring processes, you should learn to recognize the proverbial ‘red flags.’ By knowing the warning signs, both before the interview and during time spent with the applicant, you can single out the top contenders more efficiently and with greater success.
Like most hiring experts, Beck recommends a reference check and a background check. But he also shares some advice that I haven’t seen in other places. Here is some of it.
Beck suggests asking a candidate if he or she can describe the most important function of their current position. If they can’t, they may not understand what’s expected of them or where they fit into the company.
One of his most interesting recommendations is something Beck got from police psychologist John Nicoletti. When a candidate uses the word “just,” take it as a signal to find out more. “Just” is a verbal way for the candidate to minimize something like a behavior, performance issues, or a significant incident.
He suggests being wary if a candidate can’t quantify or specifically describe his […]