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This newsletter is sent to clients of Employment Screening Resources (ESR) and employers, HR and Security professionals and law firms who have requested information from ESR on pre-employment screening, safe hiring and legal compliance. If this was sent in error, you can be removed from this list by using the "remove" feature at the end of the newsletter. (Reading time: Less than 5 minutes) Employment Screening Resources (ESR) Newsletter and Legal Update1. ESR Seeks Further Changes in California Law 2. The Patriot Act, Terrorist Searches and Pre-Employment Screening 3. New Identify Theft Scams at Major Job Boards 4. ESR Update: New Partner and Workshops 1. ESR Seeks Further Changes in California Law-Input from HR Professionals and Labor Lawyers NeededDuring 2002, ESR reported on efforts to amend AB 655, the bill aimed at identity theft that made it much harder for California employers to engage in safe hiring. ESR's president and attorney, Les Rosen, worked with the author of the bill in Sacramento by helping draft language in the clean-up bills and testifying before the state legislature on why California employers needed the law to change. The clean-up bills, AB 1068 and AB 2868 were signed into law in September, 2002. However, there are still potential problems for employers. ESR is working with others to go back to Sacramento to make further changes. Any HR or Security professional or labor attorney that has any thoughts or suggestions should contact ESR. To find out more about the proposed changes or to assist in the effort in Sacramento, please contact Les Rosen at lsr@esrcheck.com 2. The Patriot Act, Terrorist Searches and Pre-employment ScreeningIn the aftermath of the events of 9/11, Congress passed the U.S. Patriot Act. For employers, it created the need to deal with a wide range of privacy issues, in view of the ability of the government to obtain information that employers normally keep confidential. The Act was also aimed at controlling money that is used to finance terrorists' activities by ensuring that financial institutions know their clients, which includes running a search of the list maintained by the US Treasury Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC). One of the most important aspects of the Patriot Act is that the definition of a financial institution has been considerably enlarged. For financial institutions, in order to ensure that they know at least as much about their employees as they are required to know about their customers, ESR advises performing a Terrorist Search. This search consists of not only the OFAC search, but also other available databases that identify potential threats. Contact ESR for a copy of the: ESR Special Report: Financial Institutions and Pre-employment Screening in the Aftermath of 9/11: 3. New Identify Theft Scams at Major Job Boards - New Threat to PrivacyMSN has reported a new type of identity theft scam. An applicant responded to a job posting on Monster.com for a great job. The HR director e-mailed a note that the applicant needed to send in information required for a "background check" as part of the interview process. Eager for work, the applicant sent off the critical details of his identity-- including his Social Security number, age, height, weight, mother's maiden name, and even his bank account numbers. It turned out go be a big scam by a person committing identity theft according to a story at Wired online. http://www.wired.com/news/business/0,1367,57923,00.html: "It's the first time we've heard of (a scam involving) someone claiming a background check," said Les Rosen, president of Employment Screening Resources. "Because background screening is heavily regulated, the idea that somebody would claim a background check through the Internet makes no sense." Regulated under the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act, background checks involve a written authorization from an applicant, who is entitled to a separate written disclosure before the process occurs. "Simply clicking a button on the Internet is not legally sufficient," Rosen said. For more details on how consumers can protect themselves, see ESR's recommendations below. 4. ESR Update: New Partner and WorkshopsNew Web site: ESR is pleased to announce the release of its new web site at www.ESRcheck.com. New Partner: The Personnel Perspective--Headquartered in Sonoma County, California. The Personnel Perspective provides consulting in human resources, organizational development, training and recruiting. The firm helps organizations hire, compensate and manage their employees to maximum productivity, ranging from start-ups to mature and growing firms. Their consultants are available for on-site or on call project work or service support. See: http://www.personnelperspective.com ESR Speaking and Workshop Schedule (ESR speaks all over the US on Safe Hiring issues) For a full schedule, see http://www.esrcheck.com/ESR_Speaks.php ESR President Les Rosen will give presentations at the following venues. April 27-28 -- Pre-employment Screeners Conference: April 23-24, 2003 -- Las Vegas, Nevada: April 17, 2003 -- Rohnert Park, CA March 25, 2003 -- Santa Clara, CA. March 11, 2003 -- Washington DC. Please feel free to contact ESR Customer Service at 415-898-0044, or Les Rosen, President of ESR, if you have any questions or comments about the matters in this newsletter. Les can be reached at 415-898-0044, ext. 246, or by e-mail at lsr@ESRcheck.com. Please note that ESR's statements about any legal matters are not given or intended as legal advice. Employment Screening Resources (ESR) The top rated pre-employment screening firm in the first independent national ranking of the pre-employment screening industry. See: Employment Screening Resources (ESR) Rated Top Background Screening Firm in First Independent Industry Study Avoiding the newest Internet Scam on phony background checks through job boards: There have been recent press reports of a new identity theft scam utilizing Internet job boards to obtain personal information from consumers. One scam involved stealing information by posing as a "recruiter" on a job board and asking for detailed information for a "background check." In order to protect themselves from these sorts of scams, consumers should be aware of the following: 1. Background checks are highly regulated under the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) and many state laws. 2. When a background check is performed, an applicant absolutely MUST first give a written authorization for the background check. Any request for information without such authorization means the request is not real. In other words, the consumer must sign a piece of paper, producing a "wet signature." Simply clicking a button on the Internet is not legally sufficient (there are some special rules for truck drivers only). 3. In addition, before any background process even begins, a Consumer is entitled to a separate written disclosure that a background check will occur. Unless the Consumer has received a written disclosure, it is not a legally compliant background check. 4. Background checking companies work for the EMPLOYER. Some of the scams involved asking job applicants to send a form directly to a "background screening" company. That is another sure sign to be very careful. A real background screening procedure is initiated and handled by the employer or recruiter, and NOT a background firm. 5. In addition, there are certain items that a background firm will never ask a consumer to provide. A background check never involves matters such as bank accounts, credit card numbers, medical information of any nature or even a physical description, such as ht/wt/eye color or hair color. 6. Background checks do require a Social Security Number. However, applicants should only provide that information directly to an employer or recruiter in an environment where you are comfortable that there is the real possibility of a job. A request for your Social Security Number would only be asked as part of a legitimate employment process. If it is asked for purposes of a background check, do not do anything until you have received a written disclosure and you have signed an authorization. 7. Background firms will generally ask for date of birth at some point during the process. Although employers cannot use date of birth to make hiring decisions, background firms need the information for identification purposes, since most court records use date of birth as a means of identification. However, do not transmit that information over the Internet and/or send directly to someone claiming to be performing a background check. Just like Social Security numbers, it should only be released as part of a legitimate employment process. Online resources are a great way to find out about employment opportunities. However, use the same caution and common sense you would use in any part of the employment process when it comes to giving out your personal information. If a job or employer is for real, at some point there will be someone to talk to in person and ways to make sure that everything is on the up-and-up. (c) 2003 by Employment Screening Resources
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