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Background Checks

Questionable online content disqualifies job candidates

02/01/2016
Are you among the companies willing to turn away from an applicant because of what they see on social media?

Investigators: U of M wasn’t negligent during AD hiring

01/12/2016
When University of Minnesota Athletic Director Norwood Teague resigned amid charges of sexual harassment and questionable spending, critics said the university must have missed obvious warning signs when he was hired in 2012.

Beware ambiguous questions on job application

12/21/2015
Your job application might be a minefield of litigation risks! Example: If you reserve the right to fire workers who lie on the application, you better be sure that every question on it is absolutely clear.

SBA website offers employers resources for screening applicants

12/15/2015
Did you know that the FBI can help you run background checks on prospective employees?

USCIS proposes ‘smart’ I-9

12/11/2015
With the current version of the Form I-9 set to expire on March 31, 2016, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services earlier this month announced it is seeking public comment on a newly revised “smart” version of the I-9 form. The goal: Reducing errors and preventing confusion.

Get real info from candidates’ previous bosses

12/08/2015
Contacting an applicant’s former employers is an essential step in the hiring process. Trouble is, most supervisors have been trained to provide only the bare minimum, such as dates of employment, job title and salary. Try for more than those bland generalities. Asking the following questions can get applicants’ former bosses to open up.

Dauphin County bans the box

12/01/2015
Dauphin County has announced plans to join the ranks of municipalities that will no longer ask applicants about their criminal histories on job applications.

How much background check info can we divulge?

11/13/2015
Q. We terminated an employee’s employment because of a recent conviction. A state agency has asked for details about the reason for the termination. Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, what can we share with the agency regarding details on background checks?

New rules ‘ban the box’ on federal applications

11/03/2015
On Nov. 2, President Obama unveiled a new executive order that will prevent federal agencies from asking job candidates about their criminal backgrounds until later in the hiring process.

How do we go about verifying I-9 documents for remote employees?

10/28/2015
Q. We have a workforce that largely works remotely, some hundreds of miles from our corporate office. For a variety of reasons, we will be reclassifying a number of these individuals from independent contractor status to employees. Given that we will need I-9s for the employees, do we need to personally see the required identification documents, or can the employees send us facsimiles/scans, etc.? If we need to see the forms personally, what is the best way to do that?