Club Management - March/April 2008 - (Page 17)

Association of Professional Background Screeners (NAPBS) commissioned a study on the accuracy of the NCIC, and the results were shocking. The study found that FBI data lacks proper identiﬁers to credibly link a criminal record with the subject of the investigation. Another ﬁ nding concerned the large number of missed records and false positives generated. For example, when analyzing a sampling of 93,274 background checks in Florida, the research revealed that the FBI database missed 11.7 percent of the criminal records that it should have identiﬁed. Even worse, of the more than 10,000 criminal records found, 5.5 percent were falsely attributed to those who were not convicted of a crime. The statewide databases are suspect as well. For instance, did you know that the state of Texas does not require its counties to report their records to a state repository? If you are a club in Texas and are performing a statewide search, the news is not good. The Texas statewide search is estimated to be only 60 percent accurate. How’s that for comforting? Don’t get me wrong, national database searches can be very informative. Use them as an extra level of security to make sure your candidate has not been arrested out of state while on vacation, or if your club is very near a bordering state. But don’t rely on them entirely. What Makes a Thorough Screening? The ideal background search is accurate, comprehensive, consistent, timely and, of course, legal. Coordinating all of these factors is expensive and time consuming (usually one to three business days). But getting the most up-to-date and accurate information on your candidates is too important to let budgetary or time constraints limit the process. Maybe the most critical search in the process is the Social Security number trace. From just this one simple, inexpensive search, you can learn a lot about your candidate. The general rule of thumb is to plan on spending about two days’ worth of the candidate’s salary on a good background screening. Most of the time it will cost much less, but if your club is not spending anywhere near this amount, you may need to check into exactly what you are getting for your money. Maybe the most critical search in the process is the Social Security number trace. This search gives the screening company all the information needed to run a thorough screening. It tells it whether the Social Security number that the individual gave you is valid, and it tells the year and the state in which it was issued. Most important for the club management industry, it gives every address nationwide at which the person has resided. You would be surprised how many candidates omit from their applications the places where they have run into trouble. Second, it gives every name associated with the Social Security number. From just this one simple, inexpensive search, you can learn a lot about your candidate. You possibly can see if he has had his identity stolen, you can ﬁnd out if your potential employee is using forged or stolen documents, and you can ﬁnd criminal records that may be listed under a maiden name or alias. This is the search that helps you limit the risk of inadvertently hiring an illegal immigrant or someone who has criminal records under another name. No matter what screening company you use, make absolutely sure that you run this search; it is vital. Next, take the information gained from the Social Security number trace and run county-level criminal searches. It is recommended that you at least run the prospective employee’s counties of residence over the last seven years on all maiden names and aliases. To be very thorough, run every county of residence and all aliases and maiden names listed. The beauty of these searches is that the county level is where the records originate from; there is no delay in getting the information from the court to the county clerk. A good screening company will have a researcher physically go to the courthouse, search the name, date of birth and Social Security number, pull the ﬁ le on your candidate and report back on his ﬁ ndings. The county-level searches are the only way to get the most accurate and up-to-date information available. Are they a little more expensive? Sure, but they are worth it to you and your club. The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) governs what a screening company can and cannot report back to you. Within a seven-year scope, screening companies can report back to you anything on the record. That means you will get arrests, convictions, deferred adjudications, notguilty verdicts, etc. After seven years, all you will get are convictions. Once the county-level criminal searches are complete, it is time to run your ancillary searches. These would be selected by you, the employer, and would depend on the position for which you’re hiring. For instance, you would want to run a sex offender registry search in all states of residence if your candidate is going to be working with the elderly or with children. A motor vehicle report would be important MARCH/APRIL 2008 • 17

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Club Management - March/April 2008

Club Management - March/April 2008 Contents President’s Message Board Governance Technology Human & Professional Resources 2008 CMAA President Peter Homberg: A Profile in Courage, Perserverance Welcome, CMAA 2008 Board of Directors Club Events: Bring Magic to Your Members Club Adopts 'Dependent Parent' Membership Policy Paving a Path to Success Groundbreaking Project Measures Environmental Data for Golf Courses Paradise Preserved HFTP Insight New Directions Global Outreach Products and Services Marketplace Advertiser Index/Advertisers.com Club Wrap

Club Management - March/April 2008

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