Screening is always a critical part of the hiring process and it offers a snapshot of a candidate's background at the moment of hire. Negligent-hiring suits have demonstrated that human resources is responsible for knowing whether a potential employee is likely to be a liability prior to hiring. Statistics show that employers lose negligent-hiring suits over 75 percent of the time with an average cost of $1 million in damages.

But what happens after you hire? According to the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), thirty-three percent of employees admit they've stolen from their jobs in the past three years; employee theft is tied to 30 percent of business failures.

Approximately 6 million workplace assaults occur each year. And more than 30 percent of truck/delivery drivers have drugs or alcohol in their systems at any single time.

More than likely, the employees contributing to these statistics were screened before they were hired. But had their employers paid enough attention post-hire, they may have spotted three key predictors of dubious or detrimental behaviors:

1. Access - Does the employee have access to valuable or sensitive information?
2. Motive - Is he/she disgruntled or bored?
3. Life-changing events - Has something in his/her background changed in a way likely to encourage or predict risky behavior on the job?

Only you know the access your employees have within the company, and regular communication can deliver a good sense of job satisfaction. Life-changing events have been harder to predict, but with the help of OPENonline, this last bit of predictive information is now squarely in your hands.

As a part of your employee annual review process, we suggest that you also audit your employees for the "three predictors". Contact our Customer Support Department at customersupport@openonline.com or 800-366-0106 to conduct a post-hire screen to ensure that you have the best possible snapshot of your staff.

View Full Article

Yes, the federal government requires the careful completion of I-9 forms for all new hires. So is reverification when an employee's eligibility to work in the United States is expiring. But is this enough?

Because of the prevalence of counterfeit documents and stolen identities, however, even diligence in completing and reverifying I-9 forms may not always ensure that employees are legally eligible to work. To ensure that your current and prospective employees are who they say they are, use OPENonline's SSN Validation and SSN Verification services.

For more information on our SSN services or any other OPENonline service, contact our Customer Support Department at customersupport@openonline.com or 800-366-0106.

View Full Article

1. Hiring New Employees
   1. Notify each applicant in writing that a Consumer Report may be requested using an Authorization to Obtain a Consumer Report
   2. Receive applicant's written consent
   3. Make pre-adverse action disclosure if applicant will be rejected for employment based on consumer report information; this disclosure must include a copy of the consumer report and the summary of consumer rights under the FCRA
   4. Provide an adverse action notice if consumer report information affected decision to reject an applicant
2. Evaluating Existing Employees
   1. Notify employees that reports may be obtained using an Authorization to Obtain Ongoing Consumer Reports
   2. Receive employees' written consent
   3. If an employee gave written permission in the past, make sure a separate document has been received from the employee notifying them that reports may be obtained during the course of their employment
   4. Provide the employee with a pre-adverse action disclosure if information on the report influences the decision to deny positive action
   5. Provide the employee adverse action notice once final decision is made to deny positive action

OPENonline provides you with samples of both authorization forms as well a pre-adverse action and adverse action notification forms. These forms can be found by clicking here. For more information on OPENonline's FCRA initiatives, please contact our Compliance Department at compliance@openonline.com or 888.381.5656.

View Full Article