Yahoo reported yesterday that two defense contractors are accused of human trafficking.   The Yahoo Article says that KBR.Inc and a Jordanian sub-contractor were transporting 12 Nepali men against their will to Iraq when the men were killed in an attack.

Of course, the lawsuit hasn’t gone to trial and is still in its early stages.   If it is true, then this kind of behavior should never be tolerated in the modern world.  In fact, it should have never been tolerated at all.  Perhaps there is irony that the lawsuit was filed just before our Labor Day Weekend.

Saw an interesting blog article on Everse , Five Resons Why Pre Wedding Background Checks Are Essential that answered a query from a Darius Harris that pretty much summed up the reasons for doing background checks on your prospective paramours and spouses.

Since Corra Group has conducted background checks for dating and on line dating, we couldn’t agree more. The list of reasons is a good list. We would only add the caution that with dating sites you will often find a reluctance to issue background checks.

Background checks on a dating site can deliver and mixed and somewhat confusing message. On one hand the dating site is promising the lover of your dreams. On the other, the are telling you to check it out, in case the person is a child molester or axe murderer. Kind of ruins the mood they are creating.

So before you get married or too involved with someone, check them out. People, even soul mates, can do all kinds of desperate things in this funky economy. When you subscribe to the axiom, expect the unexpected, you will have a better grip on the realities of life.

Frankly, most people don’t check out their lovers or even their spouses to be. And in the aftermath or discover, we get the call. Either they have sensed something wrong, the person made sudden demands, exhibited unwarranted rage, whatever. So then they call. More often than not, I will tell the caller, she or he, mostly she, already knows the answers to the questions. Something is wrong. Only now she, or he, wants closure. To know for sure.

Sometimes it’s the friends who put the future spouse or paramour up to checking out the interested party. She, or he, is too caught up in the romance to sense there is something wrong. All those kind words and flowers tend to cloud the view. The friends, however, can be amazing objective. When it is not their own issues of concern, they can easily see the forest from the trees. But with their own involvements, as with the majority of us, we can never see as clearly. It happens like that. The universe’s joke on we mere mortals.

The last thing we would recommend is that you consider the OFAC or Terror Report. We realize the odds are extremely slim that your paramour would be a terrorists. But there are all kinds of lists and the OFAC reports persons who are excluded from doing business in the United States. For the few bucks, it is worth it. The odds are very slim, but you never really know.

And if you do discover negative aspects to the list provided on EVerse, don’t hang around. We suggest you then consult Paul Simon’s timeless rock and roll classic, “Fifty Ways to Leave Your Lover.”

Check them out before you hire.

Contractors must now verify that their employees are in the United States legally, under an executive order signed by President Bush last week. For the entire article go to Austin American-Statesman

The government is getting tough, cracking down on undocumented workers. Soon it may cost more than it is worth in fines and closures to hired workers who haven’t entered the country legally. Angry people from all sides of this issue have made their voices heard. So like anything else where force is met with equal and opposite force, a stasis is formed. Nothing is down. Until now.

What does it mean? It means a fair amount of legal issues concerning immigration will be hanging around in the courts for awhile. It means is may become a political issue again in the forthcoming elections. It means if you are a business owner you surely want to run background checks on your employment applicants. You want to run the social security trace to make sure they have a valid number.

It means also that every emotion that surrounds such a controversial issue will be brought to bear via the media and the polling booth. It means we will see all kinds of accusations, ranging from racism to bureaucratic boondoggles. Everybody has an opinion, and some on both sides even possess some valid points.

But if you own a business, you don’t want to be fined or make the news. You don’t want this new crackdown on undocumented workers to affect you adversely. Fines are stiff, and while some may claim there is no such thing as bad publicity, I would beg to differ. You don’t want your workers being marched out to the paddy wagon on the six o’ clock news.

So check them out before you hire.

Generation X Doesn’t Like You

• By Lance Haun • May 21st, 2008 • Category: Lead Story
• And who can blame them?!
• I certainly can’t. I would be irritated as hell with the work environment if I were a Gen X’er because they are supposed to be entering the earning years of their life (the one where you bank your retirement, put your kids through college and pay off your mortgage) and it is getting turned upside down by a variety of factors. Harvard Business Publishing throws some of these out:
• Most corporate career paths “narrow” at the top
• And then there are those pesky Gen Y’s.
• X’ers are the most conservative cohort in today’s workforce
• Boomer colleagues are annoying
• Your own parenting pressures are at a peak
• And this is why I am so indifferent about generational differences.
• For the complete article go to YourHRGuy.com

I loved this article. I enjoyed it for its insights, and enjoyed it even more since I am at the moment in a truncated p…ing contest with one of the op-ed columnists from a daily newspaper. She laments and otherwise whines about the Boomer generation co-opting her otherwise notable and utterly progressive Generation X. She referred to it as Boomer Cultural Imperialism. Gotta love a catchy phrase.

I think the point Lance Haun is making is quite a good one. In a nut shell, Gen X will eventually have its turn at the big brass ring. Right now, I suppose, to coin the old Steeler’s Wheel Song, “Stuck in the Middle With You,” Gen X is bordered by the omnipresent culturally imperialistic Boomers who still struggle to occupy senior executive positions, since they lack the decency to die off and allow the Gen X’ers to move in to the top spots. On other side, the new Gen Y’s with their techno savvy capabilities and their MBA’s are posing as much more attractive recruitment prospects than the graying or soon-to-be graying Gen X’ers. Uh, oh.

But as Lance attests, they too will have their day at the beach. The Boomers will in time fade out to the big be-in, and Gen X’ers will fill their spaces. Probably, as with the Boomers, Gen X will be resented by future generations. Perhaps they will be resented for rescinding their values or not having any real values at all. Young groups will make fun of their material desires and their oh so keen fashion senses. They will berate them for being far too conservative and for refusing against all temptations to ever really have any fun.

No matter. As the article attests every generation will face its own foibles and obstacles in looking for a job and advancing their careers. The thing in with any group is to conduct background checks and especially education verification searches to be sure they actually went to that college. Corra an help you there.

Check them out before you hire.

The Man in the Arena

We just re-hired the first of the people we recently laid off (Reining in My Dreams One Person at a Time). It wasn’t for the same position or even the same pay, but it was an honor to ask him to be a member of our team again. As it turned out, he ended up getting a month’s severance and taking a job back with us five weeks later. I think more than a few people would say that’s not a bad deal and even a lucky break. In actuality though, luck had little to do with it.

For the entire article go to Inc.com

They’re back. You old employees are new again. Corra suggests you check and see what they have been up to since they have been away.

The smart move is to run background checks. If they are driving for you, one of your truckers, it will pay to run an update on their MVR Driving Report. The criminal check is always advisable.

Check them out before you hire. Or rehired.

The ABCs of Business CreditLearn why it’s important to establish a business credit report separate from your personal credit and just how to do it.

By David Gass |

URL: http://www.entrepreneur.com/money/paymentsandcollections/article76886.html

As an entrepreneur, did you know you have a unique opportunity to build, maintain and acquire credit both individually and as a business owner? That’s good news if you’re trying to build and grow a company because you won’t have to rely solely on your personal credit to do that.

As a member of the business credit industry, it’s been my experience that fewer then 10 percent of all entrepreneurs know about or truly understand how business credit is established and tracked-and how it affects their lives and businesses.

So let’s first take a look at how personal credit differs from business credit. Then we’ll discuss some steps you can take to build your business credit.

For the entire article go to entrepreneur.com

Corra knows a lot of business owners acquire credit because they are hard working, diligent and intent on using the money to expand their businesses. By far and away, this is the largest group of business owners. These are good people in which to enter joint ventures, partnerships or to rely upon as vendors for your goods and services.

They also make good clients. They pay.

But then there are those who have learned how to work the angles, to boost credit for themselves and their businesses by using questionable and sometimes illegal means to do so. Let’s face it, there are a lot of scammers out there, and this economic climate brings them out of the woodwork.

To assure you are not about to become the victim of some fraudulent scheme, you should perform due diligence on anyone, any business with home you are about to engage. Whether it be a partnership, a joint venture of sorts, or whether you are planning on using them as a vendor or taking them on at a client, it is often wise to conduct business background checks.

Corporate credit checks are important, as are the comprehensive/business partner searches on the key executives and company owners. You may even run criminal and civil checks at well.

Because, if you don’t, there is a chance you could be the victim of fraud. You could lose money and face an embarrassing and even criminal situation.

So check them out before you do business.

Cash-Rich Business May Take Edge Off Recession In U.S. By REINHARDT KRAUSE The housing bust and weak consumer spending may be pushing the economy into recession. But strong corporate balance sheets could limit cutbacks in business investment or stave off layoffs. Corporate America is sitting on $611 billion in cash, says Standard & Poor’s. Some economists figure that hoard could help prevent a severe recession if the economy slows further. Big companies are in much better shape than in the 2001 downturn. Ahead of that slump, business debt boomed. Companies borrowed to hike capital spending or make acquisitions.For the entire article go to Investors.com

Corra sees some companies doing well at this time while others are struggling to varying degrees. Some companies are profiting from the weak dollar while others are hurting. There is a cry about the cash flow and the lack of it.

But the larger companies didn’t exactly go broke in the last years. Many have money and realize there is opportunity in tougher times. In seeking these opportunities they will be hiring new employees and they will be seeking companies that can provide them cost effective and quality goods and services.

So not only will these larger corporations keep the job market alive by hiring in-house, but they will also assist by contracting with smaller business who in turn will probably have to ramp up to service these companies.

That’s why it pays to run background checks on all your employees. Big companies may insist upon it, and it is wise to have a pre-employment screening program in place to meet the possible demands. Besides running background checking reports on your employment candidates is always a smart and cost effective thing to do. Corra has an array of screening packages and can customize any background checking program to fit your needs.
Check them out before you hire.

MySpace Agrees to New Safety Measures
By Clare Trapasso, Associated Press Writer

MySpace Agrees to Adopt Safety Measures to Protect Young Users From Online Child Predators NEW YORK (AP) — Under mounting pressure from law enforcement and parents, MySpace agreed Monday to take steps to protect youngsters from online sexual predators and bullies, including searching for ways to better verify users’ ages.

For the entire story go to yahoo.com

Corra believes there are so many loopholes that a predator might slip through, no system will assure the protection of the children. While Corra does not advocate legislation that would mandate background searches, requiring members to supply their names, dates of birth and their social security numbers may go a long way in filtering predators.

Younger people aren’t the only ones in jeopardy on social websites. Women, especially professional women of means, are particular prey for the unsavory. For women suspicious of their new suitors, Corra offers the comprehensive background check as well as the criminal report.

Check them out before you hire.

Ed Dickson

The recent reports about 1.3 million Monster users having their information stolen from the job site has become somewhat of a major news story. While this seems shocking, the truth is that job sites have been targeted by Internet criminals for information for several years now.

Jim Finkle at Retuers (courtesy of the Washington Post) recently covered this story:

Monster.com waited five days to tell its users about a security breach that resulted in the theft of confidential information from some 1.3 million job seekers, a company executive told Reuters on Thursday.

Hackers broke into the U.S. online recruitment site’s password-protected resume library using credentials that Monster Worldwide Inc said were stolen from its clients, in one of the biggest Internet security breaches in recent memory.

For the entire story go to Topix.net

Nary a week goes by that Corra isn’t approached by some scamming group to run background checks for them. the phony job offer it would seem is a new subdivision to the phony money lenders and the phony. If you are a job seeker, or your are a staffing group that is approached by what may be an illicit operation you should check out the company that offers you the position.

Or you could ignore them. But suppose they are for real, and if you are a legitimate staffing group of HR Unit who may have found a new channel for candidate provision, you don’t want to pass it up. So what to do?

Do some background checking. In addition to the criminal background search Corra can conduct business credit reports and comprehensive background searches on the listed individuals. We can also conduct business research on the company itself.

So don’t take a chance, but don’t let opportunity pass you by. Check them out before you get involved.

Immigration Crackdown Worries Employers

By JULIANA BARBASSA

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) – Farmers and other employers who rely heavily on immigrant labor said Friday that they could be driven out of business by the Bush administration’s plans to crack down on workers whose Social Security numbers do not match their names, and businesses that hire them.

Administration officials said the stepped-up enforcement would begin in 30 days.

“Everyone’s very anxious,” said Paul Schlegel, director of public policy for the American Farm Bureau Federation. “We’re heading into the busiest time of the year for agriculture, so you’re going to see a lot of worry from farmers and employers about how you deal with this.”

The industry group, which represents 75 percent of U.S. farmers, estimates at least half the nation’s 1 million farm workers do not have valid Social Security numbers. Losing them would devastate the industry, particularly fruit and vegetable growers, which rely heavily on manual labor, farmers said.

Other businesses that count on large numbers of illegal workers include construction, janitorial and landscaping companies, and hotels and restaurants.

For the entire article go to MyWay.com

Corra knows that the crackdown on udocumented workers will be problematic. There will be a lot of confusion deftly blended with bureaucratic mix ups. Corra has no idea how it will all iron out.

But there is one thing we do know. With this new crackdown you may be paying more for your undocumented labor than you ever anticipated. The government may suspend your business or levy heavy fines.

So do yourself a favor, run background checks. Avoid being the poster child for the new crackdowns. Corra recommends you run the Social Security Trace to validate the social security number and the verify it belongs to your candidate. We also recommend the criminal search and an MVR Driver’s Report if your candidate is going to drive for you.

Don’t be foolish. Check them out before you hire.