Pre Employment Screening Articles

Mission
The Stalking Resource Center is a program of the National Center for Victims of Crime. Launched in July 2000, with initial funding from the Violence Against Women Office of the U.S. Department of Justice, our dual mission is to raise national awareness of stalking and to encourage the development and implementation of multidisciplinary responses to stalking in local communities across the country.

Who We Serve
Violence Against Women Office grantees;
criminal and civil justice system practitioners;
community based agencies;
media representatives;
stalking victims; and
the general public.
Our Services
The Stalking Resource Center consists of five components: a Peer-to-Peer Exchange Program, Training, an Information Clearinghouse, a Practitioners’ Network, and a Website.

Peer-to-Peer Exchange Program
The goal of this program is to facilitate ongoing partnerships between experts and communities that are developing multidisciplinary responses to stalking. Our staff, aided by a team of expert practitioners, are available to participate in on-site problem solving consultations. The peer-to-peer exchange program matches experts with technical assistance requests, typically received from law enforcement, prosecutors, and community- and system-based service providers. Targeted support is offered for both short-term and long-term challenges. If you are a VAWA grantee, contact us to discuss your needs.

Training
Stalking Resource Center staff are available to participate in training events sponsored by practitioners on the local, state, and national level. Topics include:

stalking dynamics
legal remedies
multidisciplinary efforts
practitioner-specific practices
cyberstalking
Information Clearinghouse
The information clearinghouse provides a wide range of useful information for practitioners. Materials include:

statistics on the prevalence of stalking
practitioner-specific educational tools
compilations of state and federal legislation and protection order statutes
case law digests of civil and criminal cases
multidisciplinary curricula
promising practices and innovative strategies
model protocols, forms, and procedures
Practitioners’ Network
To support interest in local stalking responses and to foster effective multidisciplinary work, we have assembled a network of local practitioners representing diverse communities throughout the country. These local “points-of-contact” help us to identify emerging issues and promising practices in the field. Members also exchange information to enhance their skills and efforts.

Website
A continually growing resource for practitioners and victims, the Stalking Resource Center website provides diverse resources, including fact sheets on federal statutes, an annotated stalking bibliography, summaries of state stalking laws, a guide to online resources, statistical overviews, practitioner profiles, and more.

Contacting the Stalking Resource Center
The Stalking Resource Center can be reached by phone at (202) 467-8700, or by e-mail at src@ncvc.org.

Powered by Info Cubic - a pre employment screening company

At Least 800 Cases of Identity Theft Arose From Company’s Data Breach

Consumer data broker ChoicePoint, Inc., which last year acknowledged that the personal financial records of more than 163,000 consumers in its database had been compromised, will pay $10 million in civil penalties and $5 million in consumer redress to settle Federal Trade Commission charges that its security and record-handling procedures violated consumers’ privacy rights and federal laws. The settlement requires ChoicePoint to implement new procedures to ensure that it provides consumer reports only to legitimate businesses for lawful purposes, to establish and maintain a comprehensive information security program, and to obtain audits by an independent third-party security professional every other year until 2026.
“The message to ChoicePoint and others should be clear: Consumers’ private data must be protected from thieves,” said Deborah Platt Majoras, Chairman of the FTC. “Data security is critical to consumers, and protecting it is a priority for the FTC, as it should be to every business in America.”
ChoicePoint is a publicly traded company based in suburban Atlanta. It obtains and sells to more than 50,000 businesses the personal information of consumers, including their names, Social Security numbers, birth dates, employment information, and credit histories.
The FTC alleges that ChoicePoint did not have reasonable procedures to screen prospective subscribers, and turned over consumers’ sensitive personal information to subscribers whose applications raised obvious “red flags.” Indeed, the FTC alleges that ChoicePoint approved as customers individuals who lied about their credentials and used commercial mail drops as business addresses. In addition, ChoicePoint applicants reportedly used fax machines at public commercial locations to send multiple applications for purportedly separate companies.
According to the FTC, ChoicePoint failed to tighten its application approval procedures or monitor subscribers even after receiving subpoenas from law enforcement authorities alerting it to fraudulent activity going back to 2001.
The FTC charged that ChoicePoint violated the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) by furnishing consumer reports – credit histories – to subscribers who did not have a permissible purpose to obtain them, and by failing to maintain reasonable procedures to verify both their identities and how they intended to use the information.
The agency also charged that ChoicePoint violated the FTC Act by making false and misleading statements about its privacy policies. Choicepoint had publicized privacy principles that address the confidentiality and security of personal information it collects and maintains with statements such as, “ChoicePoint allows access to your consumer reports only by those authorized under the FCRA . . . ” and “Every ChoicePoint customer must successfully complete a rigorous credentialing process. ChoicePoint does not distribute information to the general public and monitors the use of its public record information to ensure appropriate use.”
The stipulated final judgment and order requires ChoicePoint to pay $10 million in civil penalties – the largest civil penalty in FTC history – and to provide $5 million for consumer redress. It bars the company from furnishing consumer reports to people who do not have a permissible purpose to receive them and requires the company to establish and maintain reasonable procedures to ensure that consumer reports are provided only to those with a permissible purpose. ChoicePoint is required to verify the identity of businesses that apply to receive consumer reports, including making site visits to certain business premises and auditing subscribers’ use of consumer reports.
The order requires ChoicePoint to establish, implement, and maintain a comprehensive information security program designed to protect the security, confidentiality, and integrity of the personal information it collects from or about consumers. It also requires ChoicePoint to obtain, every two years for the next 20 years, an audit from a qualified, independent, third-party professional to ensure that its security program meets the standards of the order. ChoicePoint will be subject to standard record-keeping and reporting provisions to allow the FTC to monitor compliance. Finally, the settlement bars future violations of the FCRA and the FTC Act.
This case is being brought with the invaluable assistance of the U.S. Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission.
The Commission vote to accept the settlement was 5-0.
NOTE: A stipulated final judgment and order is for settlement purposes only and does not constitute an admission by the defendant of a law violation. Consent judgments have the force of law when signed by the judge.
Copies of the complaint and stipulated final judgment and order will be available from the FTC’s Web site at http://www.ftc.gov and also from the FTC’s Consumer Response Center, Room 130, 600 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20580. The FTC works for the consumer to prevent fraudulent, deceptive, and unfair business practices in the marketplace and to provide information to help consumers spot, stop, and avoid them. To file a complaint in English or Spanish (bilingual counselors are available to take complaints), or to get free information on any of 150 consumer topics, call toll-free, 1-877-FTC-HELP (1-877-382-4357), or use the complaint form at http://www.ftc.gov. The FTC enters Internet, telemarketing, identity theft, and other fraud-related complaints into Consumer Sentinel, a secure, online database available to hundreds of civil and criminal law enforcement agencies in the U.S. and abroad.
Media Contact:
Claudia Bourne Farrell,
Office of Public Affairs
202-326-2181
Staff Contact:
Jessica Rich,
Bureau of Consumer Protection
202-326-2148

(FTC File No. 052-3069)
http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2006/01/choicepoint.shtm

Powered by Info Cubic - a pre employment screening company

Update from Supreme Court Rulings - June, 1998:

The US Supreme Court set down a clearer set of guidelines about sexual harassment, bringing federal laws closer to California laws.

The New Rules (as reported in the Orange County Register, June 27, 1998):

Employers are responsible for harassment engaged in by their supervisory employees
When the harassment results in “a tangible employment action, such as discharge, demotion, or undesirable reassignment,” the employer’s liability is absolute
When there has been no tangible action, an employer can defend itself if it can prove two things: 1) That it has taken “reasonable care to prevent and correct promptly any sexually harassing behavior.” 2) That the employee “unreasonably failed to take advantage of any preventive or corrective opportunities” provided.
Hostile Workplace/Hostile Work Environment - What is it?

Definitions:

Hostile Work Environment refers to harassment by supervisors, managers, coworkers, agents of the company/organization and outside vendors. Hostile Work Environment consists of a condition where employee cannot do their job without feeling harassed or threatened. (1)

According to most legal definitions, Hostile Work Environment refers to harassment or discrimination that is a violation of a person’s civil rights - based on gender, sexual orientation, race, color, nationality, ancestry, ethnic origin, religion, physical handicap/disability, medical condition, physical appearance, marital status, veteran status, education.

Webster’s definition of Hostile (2):

of or relating to an enemy
marked especially by overt antagonism: UNFRIENDLY
not hospitable.
Webster’s definition of Hostility:

a hostile state, hostile action or overt acts of warfare
Conflict, opposition, or resistance in thought or principle.
Recent news reports quote research that people who witness harassment have stress symptoms almost as severe as those who are the target of harassment.

Consensual Behavior consists of voluntary, mutually welcome relationships between coworkers at any level. Consensual behavior is not regulated by laws nor do laws try to interfere in the personal private lives of coworkers. However, be aware, other employees may feel discriminated against, harassed or work in a hostile environment if denied equal opportunity due to a consensual relationship of coworkers. (1)

Our Definition of Hostile Workplace Environments

A Hostile Workplace is one where people can not do their best work or be their most productive due to conditions in their workplace. That is, the workplace is hostile to their natural humanity. Notice also the results of a hostile workplace are hostility toward the company’s productivity, which directly impact profits in a negative way. People who are unhappy, unhealthy or angry do not work hard.

Hostile workplace is the result of suppression of people’s natural ability to express themselves. It is the opposite of a workplace that promotes creativity and vitality. Hostile workplaces are deadly to productivity. They are unhealthy - and potentially deadly - to the people who work in them.

Hostility consists of:

verbal abuse against any person, for whatever reason
angry interchanges between people over political or territorial boundaries
one-up-manship and excessive competition
power plays and challenges issued over imagined threats to a person’s authority
attempts to squash a person’s ability to be creative and do their work in a way that is most productive for the individual
enforcement of ineffective or unreasonable rules for the sole purpose of exerting power over others or to impede progress.
According to Dr. Suzette Elgin, hostility can make you sick or kill you! Dr. Elgin also says (3):

· Hostile language can kill you as surely as hostile driving can . . . Hostile language hurts and frustrates and confuses people . . . the damage takes place slowly, over time, and the wouldn’t aren’t readily visible. . . .
· Exposure to chronic verbal abuse doesn’t leave you with obvious cuts and bruises, but is a guaranteed recipe for ulcers, migraine headaches, high blood pressure, allergy attacks; accidents in the home and in the workplace and on the highway, colds, rashes, rashes, depression and every sort of misery.
· Angry, cynical people are five times as likely to die under 50 as people who are calm and trusting (New York Times, January 17, 1989)
· Scientists have long noted an association between social relationships and health. More socially isolated or less socially integrated people are less healthy, psychologically and physically, and more likely to die. Science, June 19, 1988)
· These effects don’t show up on the short term, which is why it took so long to find out what was really happening. In the short term, it often looks as if the meanest, angriest, least-liked people are the ones getting the benefits. It took today’s computers, which can find the patterns in the data from hundreds of thousands of health histories extending over lifetimes, to show us what the real facts are. They’re not the facts you see on television.
· People who are too angry to listen cannot be educated.
· Research has shown that attentive listening is actually good for your health. When you are really listening, your blood pressure goes down, your heartbeat moderates and your body shows the healthful changes associated with relaxation.
· When your language behavior makes other people enjoy being around you and look forward to talking with you, when you clean up your language environment so that verbal violence isn’t a routine part of your life, you do more for your health and well-being than you could ever accomplish in any other way.
· If for no other reason, and no matter what your gender, that’s why you should bother.
Sources:

(1) Zero Tolerance: Sexual Harassment Prevention, a training program, by Barbara Taylor, Michael Anthony, Victor Thies © 1993

(2) Webster’s Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary © 1983

(3) Genderspeak: Men, Woman and the Gentle Art of Verbal Self-Defense by Suzette Haden Elgin, Ph.D. © 1993

Sexual Harassment — Tips for Compliance:

Limit Profanity
Train, Train, Train
No Racy or Pornographic Literature at Work
Clean up the Humor
Limit or Eliminate Touching
Bond Other Than Through Sexual Innuendo, etc.
Do Not Ignore the Issue of Workplace Romance
Lead by Example
Have a Strongly Enforced Sexual Harassment Policy
Limit Profanity

Profanity is used as either a lazy person’s tool for profound expression or as a shock device. If your workplace is riddled with swearing, start a collection box where each person who swears or is otherwise profane voluntarily puts in a dollar towards some charitable cause. When the contribution dwindles because there is less swearing, use the contribution box to work on some other behavior, like being grumpy. Aristotle said that to BE virtuous one need only practice virtue. PRACTICE!

Train, Train, Train

People need to learn that there are many things they should NEVER do or say at work - things that would be acceptable in their private life. At a cocktail party or wedding, you can walk away from an obnoxious guest. You can not do that at work when the obnoxious person is your boss, coworker or the whole company.

Training teaches people to allow everyone on the team to enjoy the right to a neutral environment. In turn the company is more profitable and everyone is the better for it.

No Racy or Pornographic Literature

This should go without saying. However, all too often, employees bring or keep such materials at work or call it up on the Internet. The workplace is no place for this material. PERIOD!

Clean up the Humor

Dirty jokes are the cheapest laugh. Any comedian will tell you that. If you really want to be funny, do it without sex or profanity. Compare Jerry Seinfeld to Andrew Dice Clay and ask yourself which type of workplace (Seinfeld or Clay) would your people be more comfortable in.

Just because it is not disgusting or sexist doesn’t mean that it can’t be funny.

Limit or Eliminate Touching

This is a very difficult but important issue. In a recent seminar which I gave on sexual harassment, this issue became very focused on whether people could ‘hug’ at work. The discussion turned to what people wanted to communicate by hugging — support, congratulations, empathy, attraction, warmth etc.

In work, it is this writer’s opinion that the shorthand of the ‘hug’ or ‘touch’ should be avoided.

If you have something to say, say it with words. The message, most probably, will be clearer.

Many people do not want to be touched or hugged. It is not their job to tell you that. In many ways, this issue is about power.

Bond Other Than Through Sexual Innuendo, etc.

People seek to become a part of groups within groups. This helps us feel special. We create little clubs to get close to one another beyond a simple one-to-one relationship. One way this is done is by being part of a group that teases each other about sex and sexual issues. This is also used as an icebreaker. A really bad icebreaker.

Think back twenty years to this oldie but not so goody, ‘Hey, you’re cool, I really want to get high with you.’ Same difference, and just as bad.

Bonding can occur on the job or through group reading, group mountain climbing, leadership seminars, or intramural bowling or football or golf leagues instead of through sexual innuendo and teasing.

Doing this right builds team character and dignity. Doing this wrong builds lawsuits.

Do Not Ignore the Issue of Workplace Romance

Romance sometimes happens at work. It can create a hostile environment for coworkers not involved in the relationship, and also between the romantically-involved employees in the event that the romance ends (especially if it ends poorly).

Romances between managers and their direct reports can - in some jurisdictions - create legal exposure for the employer. The issue of workplace romances should be addressed and discussed, not ignored.

Create policies and stick by them (i.e., a manager is not allowed to be romantically involved with anyone that he or she supervises).

Lead by Example

“The fish rots from the head” (1988 Dukakis/Bush presidential race).

Whatever the goal, if top management acts or believes contrary to the desired action or attitude — the goal is destined for failure.

You can not create a productive and fun work environment where the president is onsite and forces busy work upon his staff and is cruel to boot.

Likewise, you can not create a workplace striving to be free of sexual harassment where the top managers are insensitive (pronounced offensive) OAFs.

If you are an OAF, de-OAF yourself - before a court or administrative agency decides to help you in the process.

Have a Strongly Enforced Sexual Harassment Policy

First, adopt the policy and make it part of the culture of the company.

Second, live by it - not because it is the law, but because it is the right thing to do.

With this attitude - as opposed to one of begrudging compliance - your workplace, your company’s productivity and the value of your company will be enhanced.

Copyright © 1997 Richard K. Berger (contact [at] berkent.com). RickyBerger is the founder of Berger Law Office, which concentrates its practice in representing emerging businesses and employees with their job-related and pre and post-employment needs. Disclaimer: The above article should not be considered or relied upon as legal or other advice in any manner whatsoever.

Source: http://www.berkent.com/

Powered by Info Cubic - a pre employment screening company

(signed May 7, 2003; renewed October 10, 2005)of Occupational

AAOHN has approximately 10,000 members across the country and is comprised of over 160 state, local and regional chapters nationwide.
The association provides education, research, public policy and practice resources for occupational and environmental health nurses.
AAOHN’s mission is to advance and maximize the health, safety and productivity of domestic and global workforces.
Ergonomics
Workplace Violence
OSHA and AAOHN will work together and network with interested parties to promote healthy and safe workplaces, for large and small businesses, especially in the areas of musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) and workplace violence and promoting the use of automated external defibrillators (AEDs) in the workplace. In addition, OSHA and AAOHN will help businesses promote employee wellness and prevent illnesses and injuries within the workplace and respond to employee and employer concerns regarding health and safety issues, review existing AAOHN or OSHA programs, and help to develop and deliver new initiatives. The goals if the Alliance include:

Outreach and communication:
Disseminate health and safety information and guidance directly to businesses and through meetings (e.g. Chamber of Commerce events, Rotary Club meetings), conferences, events, and print and electronic media, including links from OSHA’s and AAOHN’s Web sites.
Encourage AAOHN chapters to build relationships with OSHA’s Regional and Area Offices to address health and safety issues, including MSDs, workplace violence, and promoting the use of AEDs in the workplace.
Develop electronic assistance tools for OSHA’s Web page that address health and safety issues, including MSDs, workplace violence, and promoting the use of AEDs in the workplace.
Promoting the national dialogue on workplace safety and health:
Raise awareness of and demonstrate commitment to improving the health and safety of the workplace and reducing injuries and illnesses whenever AAOHN and OSHA leaders address groups.
Convene or participate in forums, round table discussions, or stakeholder meetings on health and safety issues, including MSDs, workplace violence, and promoting the use of AEDs in the workplace to help develop innovative solutions in the workplace and to provide input on health and safety issues.
Related Documents
Agreement signed May 7, 2003.
OSHA, American Association of Occupational Health Nurses, Inc. Form Alliance. OSHA New Release (2003, May 7).
AAOHN and OSHA Sign New Alliance to Promote Healthy and Safe Workplaces. AAOHN Press Release (2003, May 7).
The AAOHN/OSHA Alliance: One Year Later. AAOHN Press Release (2004, May).
Alliance Annual Report 2003-2004, Office of Outreach Services and Alliances.
Renewal Agreement signed October 10, 2005.
Alliance Annual Report 2004-2005, Office of Outreach Services and Alliances.
Activities and Events
April 29 – May 6, 2005: AAOHN 2005 Symposium & Expo, Minneapolis, Minnesota.
May 5, 2005: David Ferkul, Certified Industrial Hygienist, Workplace Safety Consultation, Minnesota Department of Labor, gave a presentation to over 100 attendees on OSHA’s Voluntary Programs.
David Ferkul, Certified Industrial Hygienist, Workplace Safety Consultation, Minnesota Department of Labor, Jolyn Crum, Industrial Hygienist, Workplace Safety Consultation, Minnesota Department of Labor and Sandi Khan, Safety and Occupational Health Specialist staffed the OSHA-AAOHN Alliance exhibit booth.
April 30 - May 7, 2004: 2004 American Occupational Health Conference, Kansas City, Missouri. Dan Corcoran, Compliance Assistant Specialist, Missouri Area Office, USDOL-OSHA staffed the OSHA exhibit booth.
January 27-28, 2004: OSHA’s National Advisory Committee on Ergonomics, Hotel Washington, Washington DC
January 27, 2004: Dr. Nancy Menzel, representing AAOHN/OSHA Alliance gave a presentation entitled “Stress and Pain Management: Intervention for Back Pain.”
September 18-20, 2003: Western Occupational Health Conference 2003: Cultivating New Ideas, Napa Valley Marriott Hotel and Spa, Napa, California.
September 17-19, 2003: Conference of Leaders 2003: Where Leaders Come Together, Baltimore, Maryland.
May 2-9, 2003: American Occupational Health Conference (AOHC 2003), Georgia World Congress Center, Atlanta, Georgia.
May 7, 2003: Remarks to the American Occupational Health Conference, John Henshaw, Assistant Secretary, USDOL-OSHA, addressed the American Occupational Health Conference and during his presentation he recognized the ACOEM and AAOHN Alliances.
Products and Resources

OSHA Safety and Health Topics Pages
Medical Screening and Surveillance
Occupational Health Professionals
Tuberculosis
Workplace Violence
Additional Resources
ErgoResources. This database lists ergonomic resources that can provide information for businesses and occupational and environmental health professionals.
Workplace Violence. OSHA Training Material.
Milestones and Successes
American Association of Occupational Health Nurses, Inc. Alliance Milestones and Successes (2004, March).

Powered by Info Cubic - a pre employment screening company

Training can help all employees—not just
the worksite hothead—deal productively with emotions.

In the past, many companies conspired with employees to look the other way. After all, confronting an employee in denial is a thankless job, and it’s likely to make an anger-prone person…well, angry. But in a security-conscious world, this nonsolution is a nonstarter, so more companies are looking for ways to help employees get their anger under control. A 2003 Society for Human Resource Management survey illustrates this trend: Of 270 HR professionals responding, 16 percent reported that their companies offered anger management courses to employees, double the percentage in 1999. To read full article go to:

http://www.shrm.org/hrmagazine/articles/0605/0605andrews.asp
HR Magazine - June 2005Vol. 50, No. 6

Powered by Info Cubic - a pre employment screening company