On October 22, 2013, a House bill was passed in Washington that obliges public schools to background screen all of their employees for past crimes, especially sexual offenses, before hiring them. Rep. Todd Rokita (R-Ind) says that the bill makes no exceptions: “Every school employee, from the cafeteria workers to the administrators, to the janitors and the teachers, including principals and librarians”; Each must be screened under this proposed law. The Washington Post reports that the bill was proposed to address varying state regulations for handling school employees with known criminal histories, whereby loopholes or individual state level inconsistencies are addressed.

To put things into perspective, keep in mind that some states suspend the teaching license of teachers who are found guilty of sexual offenses, while other states may go as far as firing such employees immediately. Should this bill get the thumbs-up from the Senate, companies that offer public records search services, such as the Accu-Facts Company, may find themselves working more closely with various public schools in the future. Aside from providing pre-employment screening services, these companies also offer voluntary screening services for individuals who wish to prove that they have clean records, to meet the terms of this proposed House bill. Continue reading →

As an employer, one of the first things you look at in an Applicant’s resume and submitted paperwork is the school where he or she graduated. When you see a degree issued and conferred from Harvard, Yale, Princeton, or Columbia universities, for example, your interest in this candidate will most likely be piqued. Ivy League graduates demand and get your attention very quickly, in the hiring phase.

Imagine the surprise of a prestigious South Korean university when they discovered that one of their professors does not actually hold an Ivy League graduate degree despite claiming to do so: Continue reading →

While it is obvious that companies and institutions need to screen their applicants thoroughly before hiring them, this is actually quite difficult to do in practice. In fact, many organizations don’t act upon some of the information they get directly from their prospective employees, according to Security Management. There is a greater call to use other sources, like social media, to find out more about an applicant, but this practice can be controversial.

Some firms, fortunately, like the Accu-Facts Company, can offer organizations the next best thing. By conducting a thorough public records search, they can gather useful information that can’t be obtained otherwise from preliminary tests and interviews.  This type service also extends to individuals who wish to have themselves “professionally screened” for future employment and have a professionally documented personal background report made for them and whomever they authorize distribution. Continue reading →