Every industry has its own jargon with different terms often being used to refer to the same thing. It’s largely a matter of preference which one an individual or business employs.

But in some cases, terms are treated interchangeably when, in fact, they are not. Such is the case with Ban the Box, Fair Chance, and Clean Slate. While each of these terms broadly refers to legislation or policies designed to limit discrimination of job applicants with criminal records, the details vary widely, sometimes within the same category.

In the event a company has to hire an executive level position, the individuals that apply usually have extensive resumes. For example, executive level applicant’s normally have extensive Education and Employment history, along with years serving as a Volunteer or as part of an organization's Board. Confirming the accuracy of this information before hire can be the difference between hiring a career executive, and a PR nightmare.

It seems obvious that you would want to subject C-level executives to more exacting background checks. Yet, too often, we see companies do the same basic investigations on all of their applicants – from entry level staff to their top executives.

While it’s certainly better to do a basic background check than none at all, the stakes are clearly higher for executives since the risks of making a bad hire can have serious repercussions on the business; particularly when information that should have been flagged is missed. Consequences can range from a decline in employee morale and the tarnishing of a company’s brand to falling stock prices and damaged partnerships.

An Individualized Assessment Decision Matrix is a valuable tool in background investigations as it allows for a systematic and objective evaluation of a candidate's qualifications and suitability for a role. By breaking down the candidate's qualifications, skills, experience, and other relevant factors into an assessment, a hiring manager can weigh the pros and cons of each candidate and make a more informed hiring decision.

Studies estimate that 40% - 60% of applicants embellish or simply lie on their resumes. Some of the more common falsified claims relate to years of experience, job titles, education, length of service at previous employers, salary, and job skills.

These types of deceptive practices are certainly not news to HR departments. Most HR managers expect, and are accepting of, a certain amount of embellishment. Otherwise, they would be eliminating half of their applicant pool and would be severely limiting their ability to fill positions in a timely manner.

That means, if an employer only runs county criminal searches in New York they are not getting all misdemeanors. If they did get a misdemeanor record it is only because it started out as a felony and was pled down.

Usually this doesn’t happen, but in some cases the county court will wrap up the case with the plea and then have a misdemeanor record in its files. That doesn’t mean the employer is obtaining all misdemeanor information available on a subject though.

The start of a new year, whether it’s a calendar or a fiscal, offers a natural opportunity to review your hiring practices and policies. But the fact remains that you should never wait to implement a best practice, particularly one that ensures that you treat all applicants fairly.

Conducting a background investigation on each job applicant is widely regarded as a best practice. If you do so, you must also be prepared to follow state and federal guidelines for how you use the information revealed in such a report.

Protect your patients, staff, and business from the dangers of falsified credentials with CI. Our investigative staff utilizes the most accurate education verification system, Primary Source. Don't rely on just an education verification, pair it with a School Accreditation inquiry to ensure all components of a subject's educational history are verified.

There is a misconception between employers and their Human Resource professionals that a National or Nationwide criminal inquiry yields all criminal history information on a subject. Those that utilize those search methods only are potentially lacking key criminal data on their prospective employees. Therefore, it’s imperative for employers to know that there are four additional levels of criminal information available, each described below.

Keeping a business safe and secure requires more than just security measures; hiring the right people from the get-go is crucial.

Pre-employment screenings not only help protect businesses in sensitive industries but also provide financial protection. Hiring the wrong person is costly, and exposing sensitive company information to the wrong individual puts everyone's jobs at risk.

Here are some essential steps to keep your business safe with a correctly conducted pre-employment screening.

The ongoing labor shortage has many businesses rethinking their approaches to background investigations for prospective employees.

While this approach is understandable given the current hiring environment, companies need to wade carefully into these waters, particularly if they are conducting their own background checks.

Interviewing for a new job can be scary, especially if you are nervous about a background investigation being performed on you. This sentiment seemed to strike a chord with LinkedIn users when asked if they should disclose a conviction during the interview.

Our experts decided it would be helpful to give some insight into what a background investigation contains and what you should do if you have a conviction. Turns out, most employers want you come right out and let them know, rather then try and sneak it past us.

Read through the latest edition of the Monthly Guardian for tips on how to handle past convictions in an interview. If you're an employer, find out what New York State requires you to do if you are ever in this situation.

Contrary to what some might think, the tight labor market has not deterred companies from screening job candidates.

In fact, we are seeing more companies than ever conducting third-party background checks –some for the first time. That’s why it has never been more important to understand the legal requirements of this process as defined in the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA).

For New York State employers, the confusion surrounding legal marijuana is about more than just botany and biology. Regulations are emerging around adult-use, medical, and hemp cannabis. Maybe that’s why so many employers are taking a “wait and see” approach to drug testing.

Good employees are hard to find – and so are qualified applicants. If you think you’ve found the right candidate for a position, you don’t want to wait too long to make a job offer. You can’t change any of that, but what you can do is streamline the application process so that you hire the right candidates faster.

Meet Michael White. He wants a job as a youth minister, high school basketball coach, or janitor at a daycare facility. If you’re Michael’s potential employer, you know that you need to perform a background check to ensure the safety of the children. But there’s a problem – and it’s not that Michael White is hiding something from you.

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The pandemic has undoubtedly changed several aspects when it comes to the hiring process. Normal hiring activities have been disrupted, and most recruiters are no longer able to meet candidates face-to-face before making a decision. Closures may also limit your ability to access necessary information. This underscores the importance of completing thorough background checks.

With the labor pool getting tight, employers are looking at candidates with a criminal past differently. But they still need to weigh the risks to their businesses. As an employer, would you be comfortable with using such statistics?