Spring Cleaning
              By Susan Reiner

March bustles in on windy feet
And sweeps my doorstep and my street.
She washes and cleans with pounding rains,
Scrubbing the earth of winter stains.
She shakes the grime from carpet green
Till naught but fresh new blades are seen.
Then, house in order, all neat as a pin,
She ushers gentle springtime in.

The Importance of a Documented Screening Program

Preemployment background screening should be an integral part of an employer’s policies, practices, and procedures established for the recruiting, hiring, and training of employees. Carl R. Ernst, author of “The Uniform Commercial Code Filing Guide,”describes Policies, Practices and Procedures3 as follows---

 
• Policy: A policy is a general statement           of principle according to which an organization performs business functions. An organization does not need to maintain policies in order to operate. However, practices and procedures that exist without the underpinnings of a consistent policy are continually in jeopardy of being changed for the wrong reasons, with unintended legal consequences.

• Practice: A practice is a general statement of the way the organization implements a policy. Good practices support policy.

• Procedure: A procedure documents an established practice. Use of forms is one of the useful ways procedures are documented. For an organization that has a practice of checking past court records for criminal records, the procedures would be the documentation on how it is done, as well as the documents showing it was done.

It is important that policies, practices, and procedures be in writing. To the extent that policies, practices, and procedures are documented in writing, it is possible to independently verify from the procedure whether employees are conforming to the

practice, and therefore to the policy. This kind of documentation makes it easy to perform reliable audits. Equally important, an employer needs to demonstrate with documentation that there was training, implementation, and auditing to ensure the

programs were followed.

The employer needs to develop, train, and maintain committees or teams charged with the creating and updating of screening policies and procedures that are applicable to the employer’s business, security, recruiting, hiring, and training needs. The committees or teams should be comprised of professionals with knowledge of those needs. A person or department charged with administration or ownership of the screening program should lead or chair the committees or teams. The program should include all of the steps identified by a committee or team that are required in the screening process. In most

instances, this will include but not be limited to collection of personal information from the subject, proper authorization to conduct the background screen, how the results of the screen are analyzed and reported, and the intended use by the employer. The key components of the practices and procedures should identify the use of employment

applications and resumes, forms, and letters used including disclosure forms, waivers, a conditional job offer, and job denial. In addition, the procedures should address both internal and external alternatives, including measures used to outsource any screening to be performed by a third party.

People, committees, or teams tasked with decision-making should also be assigned. In addition and where applicable, it should be ensured that no conflicts exist between union agreements and the employer’s screening policies.

The policy, practices, and procedures should be viewed as living documents to be updated as requirements change, additional programs or products become available, programs or products become unavailable or change, or laws affecting hiring are updated or amended. For employers who span multiple states or cross into various industries, the document must separately address all the issues inherent to such situations.

Finally, regular assessment of program results and metrics should be undertaken to measure the benefits of the program, opportunities to improve program outcomes, and overall benefit and value to the organization’s financial performance and culture.

The above is an excerpt from the ASIS Preemployment Screening Guideline written by a committee of industry leaders including Steven Cotner, President, CIC.

For most of you, Lisa Olvera needs no introduction.  For those of you who have not had the pleasure of meeting Lisa (or hearing her laugh), you're in for a real treat. 

Lisa has been an irreplaceable member of CIC's pre-employment screening team for over 5 years.  She began her career at CIC as the Pre-Employment Coordinator overseeing the day to day operations of the screening department.  Her knack for customer relations is phenomenal and it soon became apparant that her skills would be better utilized in a marketing capacity.

Today Lisa is a participating member of the Toledo Area Human Resource Association (TAHRA), Sandusky County Human Resource Association (SCHRMA), Findlay Area Human Resource Association (FAHRA), Greater Southeast Michigan Society of Human Resource Management (GSMSHRM), and executive board member of the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.  You'll see her at events sponsored by these groups as well as our partners the Employers' Association, and other industry-related conferences and trade shows.  As a Certified Networker and board member of local organizations like Adelante, the Hispanic Chamber and the Great Lakes Credit Union, Lisa sees firsthand the needs and concerns of HR professionals in various industries.  She uses the knowledge to help develop new and innovative products and services to help you implement and maintain the highest quality screening program for your organization.

So the next time you see Lisa, stop by, introduce yourself and let her know what your company's needs are.  CIC is far more than just a screening company and I think you may be pleasantly suprised how Lisa can help you out!

Even the best of gardens need to be weeded.  In fact, it is only with diligent weeding that the garden can thrive and grow.  But when relating that to random re-checks or other types of screening of current employees, employers tend to shy away.  One fear is the possible employee unrest it could cause.  Will screening employees of 5, 10, 20 plus years on the job create alienation of dedicated employees?

It shouldn't as long as you approach the subject with care.  First, HR needs to explain that screening is for the good of the whole company and is a protection for employees.  Don't make it about being suspicious or untrusting of the current staff.  It's because you care about your staff, your customers and the livelihood of the company that you need to make sure you are always demonstrating due diligence.  Presenting it this way really works in achieving employee "buy-in."

Also ensure employees that their rights will be protected and that they can come to HR to discuss the procedures in private if they'd like.  Make sure that each employee has previously signed a notice and consent (if one was obtained pre-hire it should be active for the entire length of employment [check your verbiage]) and still follow through on the standard adverse action procedures should someone not meet company policy guidelines.  This will give all employees an opportunity to review the report and explain any discrepancies found on it.


            






Name the Newsletter Contest

We need your help!  We know how creative our clients are and also how very different each perspective is.  Share with us your ideas for our nameless newsletter and we'll post our favorites in next month's issue.  Then, of course, we are going to rely on your votes to find a winner.  We are at your mercy! 

The winner will receive a $15 gift certificate to Amazon.com.

Send your ideas along with your name and contact information to:
prodriguez@corpintel.com 


 
     


  



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