For those of you who are adamant about immigration laws, NumbersUSA recently developed a searchable E-Verify database. There you can locate over 200,000 businesses that currently use E-Verify.
You can use the database to find locally owned businesses who actively use E-Verify to insure their employees are legally authorized to work in the US.
Find the database here!
The Dept. of Homeland Security (DHS) and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) announced new initiatives to enhance the web-based system, E-Verify.
E-Verify allows employers to electronically verify the employment eligibility of newly hired employees.
The three initiatives include:
The fact that recent studies indicate that nearly 75% of all resumes contain some sort of falsification and that 89% are downright misleading means that a background check with a resume verification is in order for all pre-employment screening procedures.
An employer's lack of foresight can come back to haunt them. In fact, companies can be held liable for negligent hiring and retention. There can be public relations nightmares. All can be avoided by the due diligence, resume verification and education verification can head off wrongful termination lawsuits, it saves you time and money otherwise wasted by recruiting, hiring, and training the wrong applicants.
Immigration enforcement is on the rise. Over the past year, the Department of Homeland Security's U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement ("ICE") division has increased its scrutiny of employer I9 compliance.
In July 2009, ICE performed 652 highly publicized I9 inspections and 1,000 business and organization in the fall of 2009 as well.
Announced March 2nd - 180 business in the states of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Arkansas, and Tennessee have been issued Notices of Inspection.
This expanding enforcement effort reminds employers of the importance of the employment eligibility (i9) verification process, since even inadvertent paperwork errors may expose a company to fines, and intentional or neglectful violations could subject an employer to criminal penalties and sanctions.
By developing and implementing a due diligence program and utilizing Liberty's error-proof, paperless, electronic Form I9 for completing and maintaining I9's in conjunctions with annual audits performed by our I9 Compliance host, employers take proactive steps to improve their I9 compliance and minimize the risk of associated fines, penalties and employer sanctions.
All Federal contractors are required to process their employees through the government E-Verify program. It is an federally maintained electronic database system containing Social Security and other records. Now, cities across the US are getting in on the act.
Dallas' city areas have begun to adopt new requirements for city contractors in an attempt to tackle illegal immigration. "I want people we do business with to show they're doing their due diligence," said Lewisville city council member, John Gorena.
Though three states - Arizona, Mississippi, and South Carolina currently require all employers to make use of the system, Texas currently has no such requirement. The proposal was met with some criticism and opponents concerned about getting too involved in developing immigration policies.
Kevin Sluga and his wife Leslie, owners of California Business Solutions cooperated with authorities and admitted under oath that they prepared employment verification letters containing false information. The letters allowed their son-in-law, realtor David Crisp, his wife, and their associates to purchase homes they could not otherwise afford.
The letters contained misstatements about the borrowers' employment and occupation. The letters allowed more than $12.6 million worth in homes to be purchase. The lenders themselves were defrauded out of nearly $4 million.
The staff at Liberty often receives calls from our users regarding the complicated rules of E-Verify, the government run program that utilizes information stored at the SSA and the Department of Homeland Security to screen for authorized workers.
I found an article today that exemplifies just such confusion, and even worse, the reporter doesn't provide any details regarding the relatively straightforward process for E-Verify.
Two workers for Chicago businesses have filed complaints against their respective companies about their termination for being unauthorized by the E-Verify system.
The employees claim they were wrongfully fired after E-Verify was used. In a broad statement that goes virtually unidentified, the reporter states "The the system has some widely reported flaws." The widely reported flaws are mostly generated by advocates against the system itself. Here are the statistics.
Employees cannot be fired until 8 federal working days after their Tentative NonConfirmation is returned. Employees cannot even be processed with E-Verify until after their Form I9 paperwork is complete and they are on payroll. Both these measures are designed to protect not the company, but the employee, against acts of discrimination. The measures are good ones, and will prevent the unlawful firing and denial of the right to work for those persons who are authorized to do so.
In a typical year, there are 6-7 cases of employee theft in the retail marketplace.
Industry estimates indicate that employee theft makes up 40-50% of all loss in the average retail store.
Retail stores are vulnerable to the practice, but have devised a method of fighting back. Top retailers in India have organized to develop a so-called "blacklist" to combat the loss of about $125 million dollars per year.
The list will include the names of people who exhibited unethical conduct, bad behavior, and who left without notice. It also includes thieves, though a typical background check should find that information as well.
In fact, the retailers should be aware that providing such information on an open list such as the proposed could violate privacy rights of the candidate's, though privacy rights in India may be much different than those in the United States where the candidate's information is protected until he or she authorizes its access.
The move is good in measure, but it is generally better to stick to investigative background checks and thorough past employment verification. These procedures standardize your hiring practices where as referring to a blacklist could leave you vulnerable to lawsuits.
For more information about background checks and strengthening your company's hiring practices go here.
As if there weren't enough side effects of the current economic climate, new companies are cropping up to help job applicants lie and get away with it. With the rise in unemployment, a more competitive job market is to be expected.
But new companies like Alibi, HQ are making it extremely difficult to weed out the falsifications. The company charges an extraordinary amount to provide professional references, employment verifications and other "discrete" services.
The success of these companies is unknown, but it isn't surprising that the market is headed this way. Many people are out of work and desperate for jobs. Desperate times lead to desperate measures.
Liberty is doing everything in our power to insure accuracy of our verifications.
Rest assured that when you apply for a job, your employment history and references will be checked. The greater the opportunity, the deeper the investigation. A good job at a visible company will scrutinize every detail of your application and history.
Including professional references for jobs such as these is an important part of the applications process. You need to be sure that the references your potential employer contacts will seal the deal for you, not make your case tougher.
Your references should be the highest quality you can provide. Here are some tips to picking and maintaining a good person for your reference,
Read more...
A 60-day license suspension is being recommended for Garland Stillwell, a former attorney for Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman after it was discovered that he inflated his credentials on his resume.
He also charged personal expenses to the company credit credit card. Among other transgressions, he also used firm employees to send out a false employment verification for a friend who no longer worked at Pillsbury.
The suspension to some, seems like a slap on the wrist. But those wary of hiring somebody with a past like this need only use a Professional License Verification service to view the history of attorneys licenses. The suspension will appear on any verification during the 60-day period and will remain in the license history.
The report by the committee said a harsher penalty was not warranted because of mitigating factors. Stillwell had acknowledged the violations, reimbursed the firm, participated in counseling and had no prior violations.
A recent study of the records of 14,000 people who used a 2003 law to have their criminal records sealed offered several surprises to criminal justice experts. The law allows certain offenders to ask a court to order law enforcement agencies to keep criminal offenses under wraps.
Approximately 10% of the 14,000 offenders committed other crimes since 2003. The program shows enormous success. The nonviolent offenders were virtually allowed back into the workforce enabling the offenders to get a second chance.
"In the age of the Internet, where accusations cling on people the same way the scarlet letter did 300 years ago, these non disclosures are really, really significant," said Keith Hampton, Austin defense attorney and chair of the Texas Criminal Defense Lawyers Association's legislative committee.
Not everyone is pleased, however. Told of the 10 percent rate of repeat offenders, Williamson County District Attorney John Bradley said, "Wow, that's a pretty high level of recidivism."
Article
The best protection against negligent hiring lawsuits is a policy of due diligence on each applicant that approaches your company. The healthcare industry is particularly vulnerable to negligent hiring lawsuits because they are held liable for any illegal act conducted by their employees. Managers and supervisors can even be held personally responsible for the acts of those they manage and supervise.
If an individual in a healthcare facility is injured physically or financially by the criminal, violent, or negligent acts of an employee they may legally pursue a negligent hiring lawsuit against the employer. Punitive damages from such a lawsuit can range well into a six-figure settlement. Negligent hiring suits that are successful demonstrate:
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