Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/131821
Employee Screening The feat is made even more challenging, as compliance is an "everchanging process," with requirements changing weekly, if not daily, on federal, state, and even municipal levels, Goldberg says. Aurico stays connected with industry organizations, monitoring changes in state and federal rules, and partners with leading employment law firms to support its clients.. The firm communicates these changes via blogs, compliance updates, newsletters, and webinars. Such monitoring is critical for AGL, Graham says. "A good vendor partner will help to make sure you are staying up to date on things that are hot off the press, that would possibly make us change our internal practices or policies," she says. For example, Graham explains, in February the EEOC and the U.S. Department of Labor's (DOL) Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) determined that employers might be engaging in discrimination if they use criminal background checks as one of the determinants of whether to hire a prospective employee, because use of such screening might be disparately impacting minority job candidates. The EEOC is considering whether to file lawsuits against employers whom the agency believes perform criminal background checks in a way that results in discrimination. An employer can avoid such a lawsuit, the agencies notes, if it demonstrates that it rejected applicants based upon criminal history because of job-related reasons, and was "consistent with business necessity." AHRC New York City, one of the largest voluntary service provider agencies funded by the New York State's Office for People With Developmental Disabilities (OPWDD) uses Sterling Infosystems Inc. for vetting job candidates, says Sharon Fong, the agency's director of organizational and employee development. Under the mandates of two of the agency's largest funders, OPDD and the New York State Department of Education, AHRC New York City must fingerprint all job candidates that will be working with individuals whom the agency supports. The agency also receives forensic results should employees have any incidents of arrests while they work there. In addition to complying with requirements mandated by OPWDD and other funders, AHRC New York City goes above and beyond and utilizes Sterling Infosystems to perform additional background checks as a matter of internal policy, Fong says. "We serve some of the most vulnerable population and for that reason, we take extra precaution to ensure their safety and soundness," she says. [38] HRO TODAY MAGAZINE | APRIL 2013 Sterling Infosystems runs every AHRC New York City job candidate through sexual offender databases and child abuse databases. If a candidate is applying for a position to work directly with individuals with disabilities or as receptionist at one of its facilities such as a school, the vendor also performs a Social Security trace, academic credentials, and a licensing review, in addition to a criminal check. Candidates for administrative positions in the main office, such as human resources, finance, or the mail room, as a matter of internal policy are subjected to a Sterling background check that includes a criminal background, a Social Security trace, academic and license review. The agency has more than 4,000 employees of which 2,400 are permanent and 1,600 are per diem, predominantly home care staff, and every job candidate has some sort of background check, whether it's for mandated reasons or internal policy. The negative ramifications for not doing so would just be too great, Fong says. "Few people in New York City haven't read or heard about a series of investigative articles about services to people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, most of them about a tragic fire in upstate New York at a state-run facility, in which a significant number of individuals were killed in the fire," she says. When the state investigated the event, officials discovered that the facility's employees had not been properly checked by the state agency, and there were other issues around potential physical and sexual abuse," Fong explains. As such, there has been "a tremendous amount" of public and political scrutiny of facilities and organizations that provide services to this population, as they often reside in such facilities, and as such, the potential for abuse if very high. "Because of that scrutiny, the impetus to check potential employees is all the more critical," she says. "As an agency, philosophically we always want to ensure absolute safety and soundness, but add to that the increased public and political scrutiny, you can only imagine that we dot our I's and cross our T's two or three times." As a nonprofit providing social services, there is "no way" that AHRC New York City could possibly have the expertise or any access to do criminal and background checks, and because of that, agency "has no choice" but to outsource, Fong says. The vendor has been willing to work with the nonprofit "to think through some of the pricing, which has been valuable to us," she says. "The additional Sterling checks are not paid by our funders, so it's an unfunded activity that we do voluntarily." Bill Greenblatt, Sterling Infosystems' chief executive officer, says that companies in some industries are required to do background checks under federal law, but by and large, most companies are not required by statute. However, case law "drives the need."