The State of New Mexico has jointed a growing list of states who have recently increased the cost of Motor Vehicle Driving Records, or MVRs. Thanks to the sluggish economy and the slow rate of recovery, most states are in desperate need of money and raising the rates for MVR driving abstracts is one way to add to the dwindling coffers.
The Motor Vehicle Driving Record is a mandatory requirement for compliance with the Department of Transportation or DOT for any trucking or transportation company. Truck Drivers with a commercial driver’s license must be review at least once every 12 months.
Additionally, many human resources groups use the MVR background check to review behavior patterns for their employment candidates. The driving records can show substance abuse issues, multiple accidents or driving infractions, and a general disregard for the legal process. These are all potential red flags for even job candidates who will not be driving for their prospective employers.
As of October 20th, New Mexico will increase its Department of Motor Vehicle or DMV fees for abstract driving records from its current $2.50 to $4.95. Please take note of this change.
The City of Mountain View, California may be deregulating its taxi service. According to an article in the Mountain View Voice, right now there are two taxi companies in the Northern California City, and the city council believes allowing other companies to compete in this Northern California city would increase competition and drive down the cost of cab fares for its citizens. Makes sense.
The City Council is also doing the sensible thing by insisting that all new taxi drivers undergo background checks. This has been a current policy and it will continue with an new cab companies that want to operate in Mountain View. However, while local police conduct background checks on the drivers, as well as issue the driver permits. Drivers would also have to show proof of testing negative for a drug test.
However, the Council may relieve its over taxed police force of the duties of collecting fees and issuing taxi permits. the Finance Department would take over that responsibility. The police would still conduct background checks.
In all, it is always good to see a city on top of its issues. On one hand it may well help the economy by stimulating competition and giving its populace a break in taxi fares. On the other, Mountain View is wise enough to conduct background checks on its taxi drivers and, presumably, other city workers, so to avoid some of the bad press inflicted on other municipalities in recent times. These are the public services that had avoided background checks or failed to review them, until a convicted felon made the news in some terrible, but demonstrative capacity.
Gun Shows have always been the place to buy guns with neither a permit or a background check. In fact, if you do it right, you don’t even have to buy the gun under your real name. Pretty scary, huh? Well, the fact is that this gaff has been going on for years. While legislators rant and rave about gun control, creating new laws and enforcing old regulations, the gun show gaff goes on.
According to the Washington Post, New York Mayor Michale Bloomberg’s office just released a 36 page report, detailing illegal gun sales at seven gun shows in three states. The report is entitled, appropriately enough, “Gun Show Undercover: Report on Illegal Sales at Gun Shows.” Undercover investigators found that they could still purchase a gun from either private collectors who licensed gun sellers even when they mentioned they could probably not pass the requisite background check. Additionally, 74% of the gun sellers failed the integrity test.
The report called for background checks for all sales at gun shows. It called for the ATF, Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms, to better police the gun shows. Good luck with both ideas. More than a few gun sellers and gun owners are determined not to allow the government to interfere with possession and commerce. They will do whatever they deem necessary to prevent the government from interjecting itself. On the other hand, ATF is so overburden with so much on its plate, it probably lacks the resources to be effective in policing gun shows. And, given all that is going on out there, gun shows are probably a lower priority than say massive arms trafficking in heavy weapons, or terrorism.
Many times, at gun shows, in order to purchase a weapon, you could show the seller a business card for identification purposes. Or just make up a name ind contact information. These types of sales are roughly termed, “straw purchases.” What this means, essentially, is that anyone who has the price of admission to a gun show can buy a gun. Whether they meet the standards established by local and federal laws is irrelevant. They can be gang members, or crazed killers, or one more gun aficionado who wants to stand outside a public hearing, strapped and intransigent.
There are two federal bills in the works designed to make background checks mandatory at gun shows. Frankly, without the necessary enforcement of the laws and oversight of gun shows, you can pass all the laws you want, and people will still buy guns at gun shows, illegally. This entire issue of illegal weapons at gun shows and the need for background checks has come and gone and come again. The only tangible result may be more undercover reports.
The professional job reference is increasingly an added background check as part of any preemployment screening program. The professional job reference can help human resources and hiring managers better assess skill sets for employment candidates. Sometimes two candidates can be equal in education and seniority, but the professional references will provide the distinction in selecting the best employment candidate.
Professional employment references are the one background check that can drill down deeper into a job candidate’s work experience. While most employers will only verify the date started, date completed, and position held, the professional reference background check will offer insight into a variety of skill sets. These skill sets can include existent contacts, relationship building, and networking capability, which is especially relevant for sales people. For IT job candidates, professional references will allow hiring managers and human resources to best assess fluency in different software programs and aspects of related technology. Communications skills and managerial skills are other key indicators.
When asking an employment candidate for professional references, it is best if he or she provides you with former supervisors. Former supervisors can best assess the skill sets. In some cases supervisors and other former associates are, by corporate policy, prohibited from providing professional references. Some will, anyway, in order to help their former colleagues. Some will provide references provided it is made clear they are providing personal references as opposed to professional references. While in some cases the questions may be more limited, there is value in obtaining personal references. In a great many cases, frankly, the professional reference verifications and the personal reference verifications amount to pretty much to the same thing, anyway.
So with the economy in the doldrums, and with significant competition for each job that is out there, going the extra mile and including professional reference checks as part of your background checking system is a prudent move. It will not only fortify your employment verification check, it will shed light on your job candidate’s skill sets and general character as well.
