Friday, October 26, 2007

Airport managers claim background investigations are hurting them




By Thomas Frank, USA TODAY
WASHINGTON — A security policy that mandates government background investigations of new airport hires, including sales clerks, waiters and custodians, is drawing protests from some airports that say they can't hire workers because clearances take so long.
Two leading airport associations asked the Transportation Security Administration to rescind or revise the policy that took effect Oct. 1 in a TSA effort to improve scrutiny of airport workers.

"The new process is not working," Airports Council International President Greg Principato said in a letter Thursday to TSA chief Kip Hawley. "Businesses are contemplating shutting down because of the inability to bring on new employees."

TSA spokesman Ellen Howe said the agency is working with the council and the American Association of Airport Executives to end the delays. She said they are caused by technical difficulties sending job applicants' personal information to the TSA through the airport association's computer network.

"When you start something new, it's going to take a little time to work it out," Howe said. "But we aren't going to back down on vetting people."

Flights and other critical airport operations have not been slowed, but airport officials warn that could happen.

"We've had two and a half weeks of turmoil," said Randy Walker, director of Las Vegas' McCarran International Airport, which is waiting for the TSA to approve about 500 people who have been offered jobs at the airport. "This exacerbates the whole problem of not having enough staff to process passengers or check people out at stores."

At Miami International Airport, some of the 720 people who have not been cleared by the TSA are taking jobs elsewhere, airport security director Lauren Stover said. Shops and restaurants at the airport are "incurring a lot of overtime to augment the people who should be working," Stover said.

The TSA's new policy bars airports from issuing an employee ID card that gives access to secured areas until the TSA verifies that a potential worker is in the country legally and does not have terrorist ties.

Before Oct. 1, the TSA ran its background investigations after someone started working at an airport. It would order ID cards revoked for those found to be problematic.

"It improves security to do the background investigations ahead of time because these individuals are going to have unescorted access to our nation's airports," Howe said.

Airports want the TSA to shelve its new policy until background investigations can be done quickly. "We're not asking for anything that would cause less security," said Wendy Reiter, security chief at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport. "We're just saying, let's go back to what you were doing until you fix the problem."

Saturday, October 13, 2007

Tyra Hearns explains what a trained background investigator can determine in a background investigation


Many people wonder what a trained background investigator can determine in a background investigation. The first thing that any applicant must realize is that the background investigator is trained and qualified to find the instances in your past that you are trying to conceal. Outstanding debt, work history, employment verification, social security claims, workers compensation cases filed, vehicle driving history, documented drug and alcohol usage are just a few of the things that can be discovered. Honesty is always the best approach. The background investigator would rather hear your account or reasoning rather than the static data from a computer data base or a manipulative or vengeful past employer.

All too many times applicants forget that the background investigator is human too. He or she may have shared experiences or seen similar items in the past of previous applicants. The human element and the person to person connect should not be ignored for a dossier of words on a sheet of paper. Talk and interact with the background investigator and leave opportunity for follow up conversation or explanation when necessary. The background investigation process is a necessary component to being hired, but you should not fear the background investigation. Remember once you are hired you will be happy to know that the co worker next to you also went through the background investigation process. My background investigation firm Pebi Services ( www.Pebiservices.com) strives to blend the human element with the derived results.

Monday, October 8, 2007

President of Pebi Services explains the necessity of hiring a trained background investigations firm


As the President of Pebi Services I am often asked to explain why it is so necessary to hire the services of a trained background investigation company. There are numerous legal considerations that should be taken into account when implementing background investigation employment screening as part of your hiring policies. The Federal Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), state statutes, reporting guidelines and applicant disclosures all must be adhered to as part of the process. It's critical to follow these procedures as you don’t want to find yourself in legal troubles.

The FCRA sets forth the guidelines for background investigation companies also known as Consumer Reporting Agencies. Essentially it protects the consumers' right to privacy and fairness when preparing consumer reports on individuals.

State statutes: States often set their own rules pertaining to the use and dissemination of consumer information. What may be allowed as a reportable offense in one state may not be legal in another.

Consumer notification: Each applicant must be provided a disclosure (prior to initiating a background investigation) notifying them of their rights including the ability to dispute information.

Pre-adverse action: Prior to making an adverse decision, an applicant must receive a disclosure that outlines "A summary of rights under the fair credit reporting act" and a copy of their consumer report must be provided.

Adverse action: Once a decision has been made to take an adverse action, the applicant must be provided the following:

The name, address and phone number of the consumer reporting agency. A notice of the individual's right to dispute any information they believe to be invalid and his or her right to obtain an additional free copy of the report within 60 days.

Before choosing an outside vendor to conduct your background investigation employment screening, make sure they provide compliance services and adhere to your state statutes otherwise you will be required to apply federal and state law to each and every report that you receive. By hiring a professional background investigation firm such as Pebi Services ( www.pebiservices.com) you can save yourself a lot of headaches!

Monday, October 1, 2007

Background Investigation reveals teacher's crimes; results never revealed



A criminal background investigation revealed an Arkansas teacher aide should of never been hired but the information from the background investigation was never revealed. When teacher’s aide Robert N. Richards was arrested earlier this month on child pornography charges, school officials immediately removed him from the classroom.

But his bosses at Leverett Elementary School didn’t know at the time that Richards, 53, already had been in trouble with the law in Fayetteville.

He’d been convicted of seven misdemeanors since 1986 — four of which occurred after he began working with children in 1998.

Administrators weren’t aware of the convictions since there is no mechanism for them to be notified of new arrests and because the results of criminal background investigations aren’t shared with school districts.

State law requires non-licensed school employees such as teacher’s aides to undergo criminal background investigations only once before they are hired. If the background investigation shows convictions, only certain crimes automatically disqualify a person from working in the state’s public schools, leaving school administrators and parents in the dark about the other cases. "This is clearly a major if not potentially dangerous flaw in the policy." says Tyra Hearns, President of Pebi Services a background investigation firm.

Richards’ record includes non-violent offenses such as public intoxication, shoplifting and violating the state’s hot check laws — crimes that don’t rise to the level of barring him from employment. "These are definate disqualifiers in any other forum." says Hearns

But some parents said administrators should be privy to that information.

“All of those speak to a level of irresponsibility that I think a principal has every right to be aware of,” said Becky Purcell, a parent and new Fayetteville School Board member. “It would be good to have it automatically in front of them.”

Richards faces five felony counts of possession of child pornography stemming from his Sept. 6 arrest.

An investigation in Florida led to Richards, who is accused of downloading images of young boys engaged in sexual acts.

He had worked as a teacher’s aide at several Fayetteville schools, most recently working with special education students.

Richards is on paid leave while school officials conduct an internal inquiry.

More frequent background investigations for school employees and a mandatory notification process between law enforcement agencies and school districts would help protect children, said Susan Heil, a Fayetteville School Board member.

Prior arrests — even if they are misdemeanors — can be revealing about a person’s character, she said.

“Since we have the safety of students in mind, we do have more of a right to know those things and get updates on those things,” she said.

Fayetteville police spokesman Cpl. Craig Stout said officers make an effort to inform school administrators if a student or employee is arrested. But there is no policy mandating it.

“In this particular instance, the officer may have chosen not to notify the school system as it was a misdemeanor crime with no violence, drugs or weapons involved,” he said. “Plus, there is always the consideration that someone is presumed innocent until proven guilty.”

Arkansas implemented mandatory background investigations for school employees in 1997. Teachers undergo checks each time their licenses are up for renewal, which is typically every five years.

Non-licensed employees such as aides and janitors, however, are only checked when they first apply or if they change school districts.

There are 28 crimes that disqualify a person from employment, including murder, rape, kidnapping, battery, aggravated assault, felony drug charges and sex crimes against children. Even then, employers can request a waiver if they believe the applicant doesn’t pose a threat to the health or safety of school children or personnel.

If a school employee is convicted of a violent crime, the individual school district is supposed to notify the state board so that person’s license can be revoked.

Julie Johnson Thompson, a spokesman for the state Department of Education, said it’s unlikely a school employee’s arrest or conviction of lesser crimes would go unnoticed.

“It’s hard for a teacher to get [arrested ] in a lot of communities without it getting back to the school district,” she said.

In recent months, the department has been asking school districts to inform the department of any arrests of school teachers, so the department can begin working on potential license revocation, she said.

Still, the department doesn’t put arrest or conviction information in a registry or any other kind of database so school districts or the public can easily find out about former or current employees’ troubles with the law. “Fortunately, it really hasn’t been a problem,” said Fayetteville district spokesman Alan Wilbourn. “We deal with these types of situations very rarely.”