COMMERCIAL INVESTIGATIONS LLC
| MR. DUE DILIGENCE |
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| DUE DILIGENCE: SHATTERED “PIPE” DREAM & A CLEAN SLATE |
DATE: MARCH 2006
Mr. Due Diligence continues his job search this month after finding a closed door at his former
employer, Quick Fix Hospital. Due’s background investigation report revealed that his
“sabbatical” was actually because of jail time served for a controlled substance conviction, not
family issues as he claimed.
Due’s “pipe dream” of becoming hospital administrator at Quick Fix Hospital was shattered
because of their background investigations policy. Quick Fix Hospital followed the
requirements of the Fair Credit Reporting Act and provided Due with both a Pre-adverse
Action notice, with a copy of his background investigations report, and an Adverse Action
notice.
As a result of this process, Due has now become more aware of the screening process. He is
now looking for a “crack” to fall through. Due was surprised that although he was convicted
under his alias, Bad Diligence, his criminal record was accurate and complete because of the
SSN & Address verification. He also realized that his latest conviction was uncovered despite
the fact that it was in a county that he never resided in. This was because the hospital’s policy
called for CI to run the NY Statewide criminal search which includes misdemeanor and felony
convictions for all counties in NY State.
It is typical for convicted criminals and rejected candidates to focus their job search on
companies that do not perform background investigations. That means companies that do not
conduct screening will typically have a disproportionate percentage of convicted criminals, sex
offenders and drug abusers working for them.
It is important for employers who conduct background investigations to deter undesirables from
even applying for positions by clearly communicating that they conduct background
investigations. Employers should include such a statement in all job postings and ads.
Deterring undesirables from applying will result in considerable time and cost savings.
Due applied for a position at Clean Sweep, a janitorial service company. Due did not apply for
a position in the office, but rather a field position. Clean Sweep, as Due was well aware, is a
company that provides services to Quick Fix Hospital.
Quick Fix Hospital, as well as many other clients of Clean Sweep, requires vendors with access
to their facilities to conduct background screening on all employees providing services on their
property. However, they failed to define specific requirements for the depth of their vendor’s
background investigations.
Quick Fix Hospital is Clean Sweep’s largest client. Clean Sweep made certain to meet the
background screening requirement when it was implemented two years ago, the same time
Quick Fix implemented its own policy. However, Clean Sweep was meeting the requirement by
running an inexpensive check from a company they found online called Cheap Check. Cheap
Check touted their results as an instant national check.
The reality is there is no reliable national criminal database. The database results that Cheap
Check passed onto Clean Sweep did not show Due’s convictions under his alias, Bad
Diligence. The results also did not include misdemeanors. Because the database Cheap
Check used included only higher level felonies from Department of Corrections data, typically
where incarceration time exceeded one year, the background check done was not only cheap,
but virtually useless.
Stay tuned and find out in the next issue if Due is able to clean up his act or just “clean house”
at the hospital as an employee of Clean Sweep.
TO BE CONTINUED . . .
CLEANING OR JUST MAKING A METH?
employer, Quick Fix Hospital. Due’s background investigation report revealed that his
“sabbatical” was actually because of jail time served for a controlled substance conviction, not
family issues as he claimed.
Due’s “pipe dream” of becoming hospital administrator at Quick Fix Hospital was shattered
because of their background investigations policy. Quick Fix Hospital followed the
requirements of the Fair Credit Reporting Act and provided Due with both a Pre-adverse
Action notice, with a copy of his background investigations report, and an Adverse Action
notice.
As a result of this process, Due has now become more aware of the screening process. He is
now looking for a “crack” to fall through. Due was surprised that although he was convicted
under his alias, Bad Diligence, his criminal record was accurate and complete because of the
SSN & Address verification. He also realized that his latest conviction was uncovered despite
the fact that it was in a county that he never resided in. This was because the hospital’s policy
called for CI to run the NY Statewide criminal search which includes misdemeanor and felony
convictions for all counties in NY State.
It is typical for convicted criminals and rejected candidates to focus their job search on
companies that do not perform background investigations. That means companies that do not
conduct screening will typically have a disproportionate percentage of convicted criminals, sex
offenders and drug abusers working for them.
It is important for employers who conduct background investigations to deter undesirables from
even applying for positions by clearly communicating that they conduct background
investigations. Employers should include such a statement in all job postings and ads.
Deterring undesirables from applying will result in considerable time and cost savings.
Due applied for a position at Clean Sweep, a janitorial service company. Due did not apply for
a position in the office, but rather a field position. Clean Sweep, as Due was well aware, is a
company that provides services to Quick Fix Hospital.
Quick Fix Hospital, as well as many other clients of Clean Sweep, requires vendors with access
to their facilities to conduct background screening on all employees providing services on their
property. However, they failed to define specific requirements for the depth of their vendor’s
background investigations.
Quick Fix Hospital is Clean Sweep’s largest client. Clean Sweep made certain to meet the
background screening requirement when it was implemented two years ago, the same time
Quick Fix implemented its own policy. However, Clean Sweep was meeting the requirement by
running an inexpensive check from a company they found online called Cheap Check. Cheap
Check touted their results as an instant national check.
The reality is there is no reliable national criminal database. The database results that Cheap
Check passed onto Clean Sweep did not show Due’s convictions under his alias, Bad
Diligence. The results also did not include misdemeanors. Because the database Cheap
Check used included only higher level felonies from Department of Corrections data, typically
where incarceration time exceeded one year, the background check done was not only cheap,
but virtually useless.
Stay tuned and find out in the next issue if Due is able to clean up his act or just “clean house”
at the hospital as an employee of Clean Sweep.
TO BE CONTINUED . . .
CLEANING OR JUST MAKING A METH?