The Penn State child abuse scandal that has been so prominent in the news recently has highlighted a great need to make sure people who interact with children are responsible and trustworthy. It would be nice to think that high-profile individuals are all good folks with admirable characters, but as has been discovered in the case of Jerry Sandusky, this is not always realistic – and that’s where criminal background checks come in.

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A quick look around the internet might very well give you the impression that pre-employment screening is a simple, do-it-yourself project. Many criminal records check websites claim to have “national databases” and to turn up “all misdemeanors,” implying that conducting a pre-employment background check is as simple as performing a quick web search.

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People who work in healthcare know that they will often be put into sensitive situations. The patients they work with – as well as patients’ families – are often distracted, scared and vulnerable. It’s the responsibility of the medical facility to ensure patients’ safety in this vulnerable state by properly screening health care employees.

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From laws dictating minimum wage to regulations on age discrimination, there are many laws about labor in this country. However, managers may not think to Google “laws about running a background check.” Company leaders understand the importance of sexual harassment laws, workplace safety rules, and family leave guidelines, but it’s unusual for managers to be familiar with the Federal Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), just one of several federal laws that mandate specific actions when partnering with a background check service.

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Drug testing can be a useful tool for employers. However, if done improperly, drug screening can stir up a maelstrom of legal fees and public relations setbacks. Despite these risks, employee drug testing is standard in many companies because it helps prevent the wide range of problems – diminished productivity, increased compensation spending, tardiness and absenteeism – posed by workers who are under the influence of drugs.

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The question of whether to run employment background checks can be puzzling for company leaders. Cost is the most powerful argument against performing criminal background checks before hiring new employees. An employee background check also requires a certain amount of time, something hiring managers don’t always have.

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In today’s challenging job market, any job posting is going to get a lot of attention. For every job posted on the internet, hundreds – perhaps thousands – of resumes will arrive in a hiring manager’s inbox to be read and culled for the very best applicants.

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We would all like to think people who are committed to volunteerism are altruistic souls who will help keep children safe. Some predators, however, are drawn to the types of volunteer work that will bring them into contact with children. The recent Penn State child sex abuse scandal highlights this fact and demonstrates precisely why criminal background checks for volunteer programs are an important tool to make sure children remain safe in their after-school activities. Read the rest of this entry »

Most tenants are lovely, responsible people you would be happy to have living in your property. Others, however, are riskier propositions. In fact, we have all heard stories of nightmare tenants who could have, and should have, been avoided simply by performing tenant screening. Unfortunately, you can’t always tell these types merely by looking at them; avoiding these unsavory tenants requires performing tenant background checks on all prospective renters.

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Criminal background checks for parent volunteers exist to make sure school chaperones are safe – they provide a measure of protection for children as well as the school and the public. All schools have their own procedures for performing criminal background checks on regular volunteers.

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