Categories
Background Checks Economy Human Resources Miscellany Motor Vehicle Records Staffing Uncategorized

State DMVs to Again Increase MVR Driving Record Fees

Well now, almost another year has passed and with it comes a new cycle of increased Motor Vehicle Driving Records fees from the Department of Motor Vehicles in different states.   As I realize that truckers and transportation companies need these MVRs as essential background checks to comply with DOT standards, please take a note of the forthcoming increases.

Effective September 1st, 2010, the Great State of New Mexico will increase Driver License Records from $4.95 to $6.50 per record.  I always loved the $4.95 as if they were selling pantyhose instead of driving record background checks.   That said, the increased fee is not too bad, not when compared to the price increases in Hawaii and Oklahoma.

As of August 1st, 2010, the Great State of West Virginia bumped up the pricing on its MVRs from $8.00 to $9.00 per driving record search.

Please take note of the increased fees on these two background checks.   With the economy as it is, and with states suffering from budget constraints, more increases will be forthcoming, I’m sure.


Categories
Background Checks Economy Human Resources Miscellany preemployment screening Recruiting Staffing Uncategorized

The Rise of the Social Media Background Check

Everyone is into social media.   Be it businesses who wish to market and advertise through social media channels, or just plain folk wanting to tell all their Facebook Friends the exciting news about what they had for lunch, the world is into social media.   Social media is fun.  It is in fact a good way to market and to stir buzz about your product.  It is a good way to stay current with friends and catch up with old friends and past relationships.   But it can also cost you your job.

Not everyone describe in vivid detail what they had for lunch or posts photos of their pets.  Some actually grouse about their jobs, their bosses, and brag about the wild party on Wednesday night where the new love of the evening somehow stole the employee’s keys to the formerly secure room where the main frames are kept.   Some think all this is funny.  Often I think it is funny.   But more often an employer or prospective employer fails to see the humor in what is posted.  Since they conduct social media searches as background check as part of their preemployment screening program, what they find next to your photos of Fluffy may not be all that amusing.

Raghav Singh posts an interest article on ERE.Net  The posting is entitled, Catch Me If You Can.  According to Singh, most employers will not move forward once they realize the social media background check turns up information they deem as negative.  As Singh indicates, and I agree, what is or isn’t negative can be arbitrary.    Someone’s eccentric behavior may not necessarily predispose he is not the best overall possible hire, in spite of a ragged Facebook Page.
I am quoting from the article here–“In a recent survey by Microsoft 84 percent of U.S. recruiters think it is proper to consider personal data posted online when evaluating a candidate and do online research using search engines, social networking sites, photo- and video-sharing sites, personal Web sites and blogs, Twitter, online-gaming sites, and even classifieds, and auction sites like Amazon, eBay, Craigslist, etc.”
I have written about background checks and social media before.   One such article is entitled, Employment Background Checks and Social Networking.  In a tight economy when jobs are scarce, an errant and poorly considered remark on your Facebook Page or any other social media site may be the kiss of death for your employment prospects.   With an increased number of employers using  Social Media as a background check, this is definitely something to bear in mind.
Singh rightly believes that increased monitoring social media may ignite a backlash where invasion of privacy factors are called into question.   There is an issue, after all, as to what is appropriate in the workplace and what should be monitored outside that environment.   But even if laws are passed, there are always the laws and then there is the reality.

I recommend Sing’s article and suggest employees and Human Resources Personnel give it a read.   It’s worth the time.
Check them out before you hire.



Categories
Background Checks Criminal Records Economy Human Resources Miscellany Recruiting Uncategorized

Even the President Can Be Embarrassed When He Doesn’t Do Background Checks

With some cases concerning background checks, there are minor examples and there are major examples of embarrassment and dysfunction.    The minor examples may consist of an overlooked misdemeanor or citation on a background check.   Another minor example would be a lousy driivng record when a background check was conducted on your employment candidate but the MVR was never ordered.   Unless that candidate gets into an accident or otherwise hurts someone with his vehicle while working for you, these kind of situations can generally be rectified.

But in many instances with state and public service agencies, there are cases where police officers, health care and social service workers, and even teachers and playground attendants are hired because someone failed to either background checks or review them carefully upon the return of the completed background report.   This kid of mishap has occurred enough to make frequent headlines.

And then we have the really and truly egregious exception.    This is where the President Obama calls a women to the podium to best make his case for the extension of unemployment benefits.   The President no doubt was sincere in his urging for the extension of the unemployment benefit.  His heart was certainly in the right place.  His only mistake is that he picked a woman who was found guilty of a prescription drug fraud charge, just one month before she lost her job.   According the Newsplex, the woman had been working as an aesthetician in a Charlottesville, Virginia Spa.    Currently, there is no way to determine if the woman lost her job because of the conviction.   There’s also no indication from the court file that woman lost her job because of the court case, or that she has received unemployment benefits improperly.

But all that said, there are probably better examples of people who need extension of their unemployment benefits, because they lost their jobs.    The moral of the story is to conduct background checks, before going public with any news story where someone involved may have criminal convictions.   It may come back to bite you.  In this information age, it probably does.   We at Corra Group have seen this result enough times that we always advise…check them out before you hire.

Categories
Background Checks Criminal Records Economy Human Resources Miscellany

New Hampshire Cuts Back on Access to Courthouse Background Checks

County Criminal records, especially those pulled directly from the courthouse, are an essential background check for any pre-employment screening program.   But with a lousy economy and the subsequent budgetary constraints the courthouses in many states are cutting back on access.   California courts are on furlough the third Wednesday of every month, delaying some of the records retrievals for background checks.

New Hampshire is but one more state facing budgetary constraints in a bad economy.   Like many other states, New Hampshire has to make do with less personnel under stressful working conditions.    From example–

The Merrimack County Superior Court, faced with a critical case backlog and staff shortage, will close the clerk’s office from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. daily commencing August 2 to allow uninterrupted time for processing cases and related materials. No telephone or counter service will be available to lawyers, litigants or the public in the clerk’s office during those hours; the automated telephone system will be monitored so that emergency requests are addressed promptly. A “drop box” will be set up inside the courthouse in Concord for filing documents during the hours when the clerk’s office is closed.

According to the New Hampshire Judicial Board Press Release, Superior Court Chief Justice Robert J. Lynn said the schedule will be reviewed every 30 days to determine when the clerk’s office can return to routine office hours. Reductions in the court system budget have required administrators to maintain 68 full-time non-judicial vacancies, which means court locations have fewer employees on staff to carry out day to day clerical responsibilities. That has resulted in a “critical case processing backlog” in Merrimack County, Lynn said in a memo this week to the Judicial Branch Administrative Council.

Let’s face it, despite all reports to the contrary, much of the economy is still suffering.   States really have it tough and are working it out the best they can.   So sometimes when you order criminal records as part of your background checks there may be some delays.

Here is the link to additional changes in the New Hampshire Court System.

Check them out before you hire.