Month: December 2013

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Background Checks Criminal Records Human Resources Miscellany preemployment screening

Court Delays in New Hampshire

For those conducting background checks as part of their employment screening program, please take note–

Court Relocation Causes Delays in NH 

 

The relocation of New Hampshire’s Cheshire County Superior Court to new facilities is causing delays at the Cheshire Superior and Keene District courts. There will be limited public access through Friday, December 13.

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Background Checks Criminal Records Economy Human Resources Miscellany preemployment screening Recruiting Staffing Uncategorized

Employee Theft on the Rise

T’s the season to be giving.  Seems it is also the season to be taking.  Since every season is open season for employee theft.  Employee theft is on the increase.  According to the annual Retail Theft Survey, employee theft is up some 5.5 percent.

According to the article in the Digital Journal…”Retail theft was up 5.5 percent in 2012, according to the Annual Retail Theft Survey. The survey, which reviewed the records of 23 major retailers, logged a similar increase in 2011, which could offer a warning about prevailing issues in the retail industry.

“The seriousness of retail theft is a much greater problem than many people realize,” says Mark R. Doyle, president of Jack L. Hayes International, the company that conducts the survey each year. “These theft losses are stealing profits from retailers and driving retail prices higher for the consumer.”

Retailers apprehended more than 1.1 million shoplifters and employees in 2012, and recovered more than $189 million in goods. To keep these losses down, experts recommend retailers become aware of the following major risks that fuel internal loss.”

What are the reasons for the increase in theft?  It may be the economy, or employee’s dissatisfaction with current salaries and working conditions.  It may be desperation or in the worse case scenario and continual breakdown in ethics and protocol that enables certain employees to believe they deserve more than they are paid, that is okay to steal from their workplace.  That it is a little something extra in lieu of lower wages or more working hours.  It’s hard to say, really.  What we do know, according to the survey, is that workers are stealing more.
For those hiring the first of next year, it is advisable to conduct a more comprehensive series of background checks as part of your employment screening program.  Not only is it wise to conduct criminal records searches, but also reference checks as well.

 

Categories
Background Checks Criminal Records Economy Human Resources Miscellany preemployment screening Staffing Uncategorized

L.A. Sheriff’s Hired Applicants with Misconduct–Ignored Background Checks

The key about background checks is that once you order them you actually have to read the report and then apply it so that you are discriminating on who you hire.  In the case of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, many of the background checks that were returned through its employment screening process were either overlooked or ignored.   This had created a scandal where several city councilman and county supervisors have called for a probe of the department and its hiring policies.  Most of the controversy surrounds hiring practices occurring in 2010.

According to an article in the Los Angeles Times…”Ultimately, about 280 county officers were given jobs, including applicants who had accidentally fired their weapons,  had sex at work and solicited prostitutes, the records show.

“For nearly 100 hires, investigators discovered evidence of dishonesty, such as making untrue statements or falsifying police records. At least 15 were caught cheating on the department’s own polygraph exams.”

Not what you call a stellar group of applicants to uphold the law in one of America’s most major cities.

More about this tomorrow.