Isaac About to Hit the Gulf Coast

Corra Group provides various DOT and background checking services to its clients along the Gulf Coast.   We provide Motor Vehicle Driving records to those in the energy business and those background checks to truckers and companies in related fields.

With Hurricane Isaac bearing down on them, we know many workers are out scrambling to retrieve equipment and then take care of their homes and loved ones.

Corra Group just wants to wish all of our clients well.  Be safe.

Corra Group Continues Expansion of International Background Checking Services

This is our recent press release about Corra Group Expansion of International Services.

Corra Group continues its expansion of international background checking services. In addition to international employment screening background checks, Corra Group has been expanding into financial vetting and business research on a global scale.

“As the world continues to develop its global economy, businesses are confronted with new challenges and new concerns,” said Gordon Basichis, Co-Founder of Corra Group. “Some employers are increasingly hiring international workers both domestically and for their foreign offices. These employees need to be vetted, and increasingly their employment histories and their educational histories have to be verified.

“Candidates often lie about where they worked and from what schools they graduated, “said Basichis. “They might think it’s like it was a few years ago, when employers took job applicants at their word and didn’t bother conducting background checks. But it’s not that way anymore. Now most employers verify education and check for international criminal records in the cities and countries where a candidate has lived previously.”

For the entire Press Release, please click on this link.

Penn State Implements Background Checking Policy

I guess this comes under the category of better late than never.  Although, in fairness to the University, sometimes even when you run background checks on job candidates, you can’t prevent them from discovering their own social and criminal flaws once they gain employment.

According to Security Director News….”Penn State University has implemented a new policy that requires current employees in “sensitive” areas, as well as all future final job candidates and third-party employees, to undergo criminal background checks.

The policy change comes in the wake of Jerry Sandusky’s recent conviction on charges that he sexually abused several children during his 30-year career as Penn State’s assistant football coach.”

The background checking policy will apply to all new job applicants and all current employees deemed to be in sensitive or critical positions who have access to different areas where serious security breaches may occur. Those who have access, keys, to different buildings or have access to controlled substances are some of those current employees who will be subjected to background checks.

Now, if negative information is returned through employment screening procedures, it’s imperative that officials must act upon it accordingly.   So we don’t see another Jerry Sandusky incident.

City Compliance and Workplace Violence

The City of Buffalo is struggling to comply with the Department of Labor Standards concerning workplace violence.   It should be noted Buffalo is not the only city trying to come into compliance with guidelines that will help prevent violence in the workplace.  As workplace violence is a growing concern, what with liability issues, terrible press and the horror of dealing with a violent situation, small wonder the Department of Labor is encouraging cities as well as private employers to implement better methods of prevention.

According to an article in the Buffalo News….”n a six-part citation, the department’s Public Employee Safety and Health Bureau finds that the city did not:

* Have a policy on workplace violence prevention, including a plan for employee training.

* Examine past incidents of workplace violence to see if there were patterns.

* Examine existing policies and the physical workplaces to see if they contribute to the risk of violent incidents and have a plan for how hazards will be addressed.

The state imposed a series of deadlines from May through August for the city to be in compliance with the law. So far, the city has met them and has not been fined, said Human Resources Commissioner Patricia P. Folts, who was appointed last September, succeeding Karla L. Thomas.

“It would be serious if they weren’t trying to comply with the law, but they are,” said Michael F. Drennen, who represents about 445 clerical and professional city employees as president of Local 650, American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees.

As part of the state’s directive, the city is surveying employees, asking them where they think they could be at risk on the job.

Drennen noted that City Hall lacks metal detectors and security personnel, with few exceptions, and that many city employees deal with the public and other employees in what can be tense situations, with few, if any, safeguards for employees.”