Transcript Powerpoint
Chapter Nine
Employment Related Security
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Need For Employment Related Security
◦ Employee Related Security includes “Background
Investigations” which also includes:
Pre-Employment Screening
Drug Testing
Sexual Harassment in the Workplace
Fingerprints
Employee Monitoring
Employee Misconduct Investigations
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Employment Related Security
◦ The Privacy Rights Clearinghouse reports the
employer must investigate potential and current
workers of several reasons:
Negligent Hiring Lawsuits are on the rise
Current Events have caused an increase in the
need for “Employment Related Security”
False of inflated information supplied by job
applicants seems to be on the rise
30-40% of all job applicants include false facts
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Employment Related Security
◦ The Privacy Rights Clearinghouse reports the
employer must investigate potential and current
workers of several reasons: (Con’t)
New federal and state laws require background
checks for certain jobs
The current information age makes employment
related security and investigations easier to
conduct
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Employment Related Security
◦ Other reasons:
The current extent of drug usage
10-20% of the nation’s workers who die on the
job test positive for drugs or alcohol
10-12% of the workforce in any company abuse
drugs
50% of job site accidents are caused by illegal
drug use
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Employment Related Security
◦ “Negligent Hiring” means that an employer has
hired someone without properly confirming that the
information on their application is accurate and
factual
◦ Lawsuits can result from:
Negligence in conducting a background
investigation
Failing to conduct an investigation
Hiring with knowledge of a dangerous propensity
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Employment Related Security
◦ If no facts were available before hiring an
employee, but became known during the course of
employment, a case for “Negligent Retention” can
be made
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Employment Related Security
◦ Most large corporations and businesses have their
own proprietary security department that provide a
wide range of security services, including
investigations
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Background Investigations
◦ Background investigations are extremely important
in the workplace and include pre-employment
screening and other background investigations,
including the investigations of vendors, private
contractors, temporary workers and other
companies
◦ The background investigations process for selecting
personnel and evaluating them for the best use of
their employment is called “Vetting”
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Background Investigations
◦ Wackenhut Background Investigations:
Standard Backgrounds
Applicant checks are intended for entry level
positions and positions in which no money is
handled
Driving Records, Civil and Criminal Court
Records, SSN Verification, Credit Reports,
and past Employment Verification
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Background Investigations
◦ Wackenhut Background Investigations:
Comprehensive Backgrounds
Applicant checks are intended for higher level
positions and positions that involve handling
money or sensitive information
Verification of Identity, Education and
professional credentials, contact and
interviews of listed references and exploration
of resumes
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Pre-Employment Background Screening
◦ The ADP Employer Services Hiring Index
9% of the background checks turned up negative
information or inaccuracies
5% of criminal records checked had an
infraction
50% of the employment credential and
education checks uncovered discrepancies
30% had one conviction on their driving record
45% had a bankruptcy, judgment, lien or report
to a collection agency
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Pre-Employment Background Screening
◦ Other Checks:
Military Records (DD214)
Date of entry and separation
All assignment
Military records facility
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Pre-Employment Background Screening
◦ Other Checks:
Education
Educational record checks often a deceptive
applicant with a computer and printer
technology skills can create realistic looking
diplomas
Have copies of transcripts mail directly to the
employer
Check State Department of Education
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Pre-Employment Background Screening
◦ Other Checks:
Criminal Records
Of all the pre-employment selection tools,
criminal records checks are the most common
93.6% of employers look at criminal records
91.1% of employers check employment records
75.2% of employers verify educational records
71.5% of employers screen for drug use
145% of employers test for integrity
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Pre-Employment Background Screening
◦ The best place to start:
Check with the candidates former employer
Liabilities for defamation
Focus on what the former employer does not
say
Ask specific questions rather than general
information
Ask the same questions for each applicant
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Pre-Employment Background Screening
◦ Businesses generally must get written permission
from job applicants to conduct background
investigations through an outside pre-employment
checking agency, but do not need written
permission for checks done by in house staff
◦ When conducting background checks, employers
should be fully aware of all laws related to what
information may be obtained and what is
confidential
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Pre-Employment Background Screening
◦ The Federal “Fair Credit Reporting Act” sets the
national standards for employment screening
Promotes accuracy and ensure the privacy of the
information used in consumer reports
◦ The “Fair Credit Reporting Act” only applies to
background checks performed by an outside
company (Consumer Reporting Agency)
◦ It does not apply in situations where the employer
itself conducts background checks in house
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Pre-Employment Background Screening
◦ Three companies maintain “Consumer Credit
Reports”
Trans Union
Experian
Equifax
Used by banks and lenders to determine if a
person has strong enough credit to obtain a loan
Used by potential employers to check an
applicant’s credit history
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Pre-Employment Background Screening
◦ “Consumer Credit Reports” contains:
Trade Lines (history of all credit accounts)
Credit Balances
Highest amount ever owed
Payment History
Civil Records and Judgments
Bankruptcies and Liens
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Pre-Employment Background Screening
◦ Whenever a company plans to use a credit report in
a hiring decision, it must follow the requirements of
the “Fair Credit Reporting Act,” which are enforced
by the Federal Trade Commission
An employer is required to notify the job
candidate of a consumer report will be requested
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Pre-Employment Background Screening
◦ If the company decides to take an adverse action
against the candidate because of the information in
the credit report:
It must notify the applicant in advance
Give a copy of the report
Provide a written explanation of the candidates
rights under the law
The applicant can then dispute any inaccuracies of
the report
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Pre-Employment Background Screening
◦ Many ‘Scam Operations” provide false preemployment background information to prospective
employers
◦ Considering the growing proliferation of “Scam
Operations,” good pre-employment investigations
go beyond the normal methods of checking the
applicant’s backgrounds
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Pre-Employment Background Screening
◦ Beyond Normal Methods:
Verifying employment by checking with the
Human Resources Department of previous
companies or ask for W-2’s
Verifying the legitimacy of the company itself:
Local Chamber of Commerce
Business Reference Books
State Government’s Corporate Business
Department
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Pre-Employment Background Screening
◦ Beyond Normal Methods:
Sex Offenders
The Jacob Wetterling Act (1994) required sex
offenders to register
Megan’s Law (1996) required community
notification
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Pre-Employment Background Screening
◦ Beyond Normal Methods:
Problems Investigating Sex Offenders
Records are housed in different areas in
different states
And each state has their own classification and
levels of offenders
Records can be lost, no national database
Hurricane Karina
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Pre-Employment Background Screening
◦ Polygraphs or Lie Detector Examinations
Many corporation used polygraphs in preemployment screening and internal investigations
In 1988 the “Employee Polygraph Protection Act”
prohibited the use of pre-employment polygraph
examinations in the private sector except for
government employers, law enforcement agencies
and certain critical industries
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Pre-Employment Background Screening
◦ Criminal Records
The Connecticut Attorney General stated the
single most reliable predictor of criminal behavior
is the fact of a prior criminal history
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Other Background Investigations
◦ A company can also be found liable for the actions
of a temporary or contract employee who harms
someone on company property or company time
Independent contractors
Vendors
consultants
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Other Background Investigations
◦ Employers that fail to exercise “Due Diligence” in
their hiring practices risk hiring criminals or
unqualified workers, workplace violence, theft or
litigation
◦ Read Recent Court Decisions on Pre-Employment
Background Screening, Page 255
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Other Background Investigations
◦ Employment Related Drug Testing or Screening
Substance abusing workers have been found to
be:
Less productive
Higher absenteeism rates
Higher worker’s compensation claims
Higher turnover rates
Higher accident rates
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Other Background Investigations
◦ Employment Related Drug Testing or Screening
The National Household Survey on Drug Use:
46% of the U.S. population age 12 or older
reported that they had used illicit drugs at least
once in their lifetime
15% within the previous year
8% within the last month
670,000 drug related visits to hospital
emergency rooms
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Other Background Investigations
◦ Employment Related Drug Testing or Screening
Workplace related drug Testing is completely
legal
The “Federal Drug Free Workplace Act” (1998)
was passed to provide employers and employees
with the right to work in a drug free workplace
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Other Background Investigations
◦ Employment Related Drug Testing or Screening
In order to withstand legal challenges, drug
testing policies must be created fairly and be well
documented, professionally administered and
effectively communicated to employees and
management
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Other Background Investigations
◦ Employment Related Drug Testing or Screening
Reasons for employers to drug test employees:
Concern over the economic cost of drug abuse
Fear of liability for injuries caused by employee
drug use
Belief that drug use increases the amount of
employee theft
Desire to control the conduct of employees
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Other Background Investigations
◦ Employment Related Drug Testing or Screening
A comprehensive workplace drug testing
program: (Exhibit 9.4, page 257)
A pre-employment test
Random test
Reasonable suspicion test
Post accident test
Return to duty test
Follow up test
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Other Background Investigations
◦ Employment Related Drug Testing or Screening
Traditionally, drug testing has been done by
“Urine Analysis” and was the most common form
of drug testing costing about $35 per person tested
Drug testing by hair analysis is gaining popularity
Hair testing detects exposure over prolonged
periods of time
Drug tests can be performed less frequently
Read Exhibit 9.5, page 258
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Other Background Investigations
◦ Employment Related Drug Testing or Screening
Although illegal drugs or controlled substances
receive much attention, alcohol is by far the
largest substance abuse problem in society
The Bureau of National Affairs states that 1 in 12
American workers abuses alcohol (this is double
the number of workers that abuse marijuana,
cocaine and amphetamines combined)
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Other Background Investigations
◦ Employment Related Drug Testing or Screening
This abuse results in a loss of $9 to $150 billion to
employers per year in:
Absenteeism
Tardiness
Higher health care costs
Increase accidents at work
Reduced productivity
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Other Background Investigations
◦ Board of Education v. Earls (2002)
The Court ruled “testing students who participate
in extracurricular activities is a reasonably
effective means of addressing the school district’s
legitimate concerns in preventing, deterring and
detecting drug use”
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Sexual Harassment
◦ “Sexual Harassment” can be defined as
unwarranted and unwelcome sexual attention
Approximately one-half of all women will be
sexually harassed during the course of their
academic or working lives
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Sexual Harassment
◦ In the 1970s, Courts first acknowledged that
employees were within their rights to sue their
employer when they were subjected to unlawful
sexual harassment in the workplace
◦ The U.S. Supreme Court has held that Title VII of
the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits sexual
harassment in the workplace
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Sexual Harassment
◦ The U.S. Supreme Court has decided several cases
on Sexual Harassment in the Workplace
The general rules the Court has established is that
employers can be held liable for both “Actual”
sexual harassment in the workplace and “Hostile
Environment” sexual harassment
Read Cases on page 263
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Sexual Harassment
◦ The Court has also found that same sex harassment
can create employer liability and declared that
sexual harassment does not differentiate between
genders
Males could be held liable for sexual harassment
of males and women for women
The ruling also includes horseplay, all female talk,
racial, religious, ethnic and disability
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Sexual Harassment
◦ Employers, the Court ruled, should clearly define:
What constitutes harassing behavior
Reinforce a “Zero Tolerance” response to it
Outline the range of disciplinary consequences for
harassment
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Sexual Harassment
◦ The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
employer guidelines:
Establish a sexual harassment policy
Post the policy
Investigate all cases promptly
Offer remedies to injured parties
Train employees to avoid harassing others
Create safeguards to prevent incidents of sexual
harassment
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Monitoring Phone Calls
◦ Employers may monitor calls with clients or
customers for reasons of quality control
◦ Federal law allows unannounced monitoring for
business related calls
◦ However, when an employer realizes a call is
personal, they must immediately stop monitoring
the call
◦ Employees can be restricted from making personal
calls and employers can monitor calls to ensure
compliance
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Monitoring Computer Use
◦ Employers can use computer software that enables
them to see what is on the screen or stored in an
employee’s computer terminal and hard disks
◦ Employers can monitor Internet usage, web surfing
and e-mail
38% of companies read or analyze e-mails
33% of companies have fired an employee for
violating an e-mail policy
50% of companies have disciplined employees for
violating an e-mail policy
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