Ex Felons For Hire

IRVINE, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–HireRight, a leading provider of global employment background checks, drug testing, education verification, and electronic Form I-9 and E-Verify solutions is pleased to announce the launch of Compliance Workbench, a centralized tool to assist organizations in efficiently managing compliance obligations in jurisdictions with effective ban the box legislation.

Ban the box laws prohibit employers from asking if a candidate has ever been convicted of a crime as part of the initial employment application. In jurisdictions where these laws have been implemented, the question of criminal history is delayed until later in the candidate assessment process with the goal of creating more employment opportunities for individuals with criminal records. HireRight’s Compliance Workbench will help customers to stay current on rapidly changing ban the box legislation and provides options to fulfill legal obligations in various jurisdictions in an efficient manner. The tool uses job location data and each candidate’s current address to identify applicable ban the box requirements. Compliance Workbench also allows customers to create and maintain letters, forms and assessment questionnaires unique to each candidate’s specific circumstances.

“Compliance Workbench is integral to HireRight’s continued mission to develop technologies that improve the hiring process and help employers stay ahead in a constantly-shifting regulatory environment,” said Jim Daxner, chief product officer at HireRight. “This tool will equip employers with the tools they need to manage their compliance, and further support our efforts to improve the hiring process by electronically delivering customized documents and streamlining correspondence with candidates.”

To learn more about Compliance Workbench, visit https://www.hireright.com/services/additional-services/compliance-workbench.

About HireRight

HireRight helps employers hire the right candidates, by delivering global employment background checks, drug testing, education verification, and electronic Form I-9 and E-Verify solutions. Employers can tailor HireRight’s extensive screening solutions to their unique needs, giving them peace of mind about their hiring and vetting processes. HireRight’s platform integrates with existing HR platforms and applicant tracking systems, giving organizations and candidates the best possible experience.

HireRight is headquartered in Irvine, CA, with offices around the globe including regional headquarters in London, Mexico City and Singapore. Learn more at www.HireRight.com.

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Two online recruitment firms have exposed more than 200,000 CVs, revealing job-hunters’ names, addresses, phone numbers and career histories to potential cyber criminals, Sky News can reveal.

Authentic Jobs, a US-based jobs board used by companies including the New York Times and accounting firm EY made 221,130 CVs publicly accessible.

Sonic Jobs, a UK retail and restaurant jobs app used by the Marriott and InterContinental hotel chains, exposed 29,202 CVs. The total numbers may be higher as the service used to detect the leaks only refreshes irregularly.

Both firms exposed the CVs through their cloud storage service, which stores data in servers connected to the internet.

The firms made the settings on their “buckets” – cloud storage folders provided by Amazon Web Services (AWS), the biggest cloud service in the world – public.

This meant that when someone applied for a job their CV was available for anyone who knew the location of the bucket to see and download.

Student Akilah Elder, who used Sonic Jobs to find part-time work, had her CV exposed. “I am worried about the fact that my address is out there and my phone number,” she told Sky News.

“I trusted these people to do what they were supposed to do, which was to help me find a job and now everyone can access my data.”

After they were contacted by Sky News, both companies made their buckets private.

“We take security and privacy very seriously and are looking into how this happened,” Authentic Jobs said over email.

In a statement, Sonic Jobs told Sky News it was immediately reviewing how the storage system had been left public.

“With limited resources, as a small business, we are confident that we take reasonable and proportionate measures to protect the confidentiality, integrity and availability of our business data and the personal data we hold,” the firm said.

The data breaches were found by security researcher Gareth Llewellyn.

“By finding and closing these buckets we can protect people who placed their trust in these businesses and – hopefully – start drawing attention to the dangers of storing personal data in a woefully insecure manner,” he said.

The breach will raise questions about the security of AWS buckets, which have been accidentally configured for public access by numerous organisations, including Verizon, Dow Jones, GoDaddy and wrestling company WWE.

In July 2017, over three million wrestling fans had their sensitive personal details exposed when WWE leaked information through an AWS bucket. Voter databases have also been leaked by US firms in the same way.

“Amazon could be doing more,” said security consultant Richard de Vere.

“Amazon should proactively look for these buckets along with researchers.”

In a statement, Amazon said AWS buckets were secure by default.

“If customers use the default configuration, the bucket locks down access to just the account owner and root administrator,” a spokesperson told Sky News.

“We have services to help customers audit and consider configuration changes, and continue to add capabilities that give customers ways to triple check their customisations.”

Mr Llewellyn agreed that the responsibility lay with companies using cloud services.

“Just because they leveraged a service like AWS, or even outsourced to a third party entirely, doesn’t preclude them from ensuring the data entrusted to them is safe,” he said.

Under UK law, companies are obliged to report a data breach to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) within 72 hours of learning about it.

They must also alert anyone affected “without undue delay” if the breach is “likely to result in a high risk of adversely affecting individuals’ rights and freedoms”.

At the time of publication, Sonic Jobs had not alerted everyone whose CV was leaked about the breach.

An ICO spokesperson said: “Organisations must notify the ICO within 72 hours of becoming aware of a personal data breach unless it is unlikely to pose a risk to people’s rights and freedoms.

“If an organisation decides that a breach doesn’t need to be reported they should keep their own record of it, and be able to explain why it wasn’t reported if necessary.

“If anyone has concerns about how their data has been handled, they can report these concerns to us and we can look into the details.”

In the US state of Florida, where Authentic Jobs is based, companies are required to alert both authorities and affected consumers.

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Waterloo just passed its “Fair Chance Initiative” last week, limiting how employers can ask job applicants about their criminal histories, and now its city council is already considering possible changes to the new ordinance.

City council members heard about proposed amendments during a work session Monday.

One of these amendments would prohibit any employer, except for schools and certain state and federal government jobs, from asking applicants about their criminal records on a job application. However, it clarifies that businesses with 15 or more employees cannot ask this question until a conditional job offer has been extended later in the process.

Another amendment outlines the process that follows if someone believes a business has violated the ordinance, which would begin with filing a complaint with the Waterloo Commission on Human Rights, which is later reviewed by the city attorney and a court.

Anyone found to be in violation would have to pay a fine of up to $1,000, which would be paid to the person making the complaint.

“The last thing we need is for businesses to feel like we’re being incentivized to find wrongdoing in their employees,” Abraham L. Funchess Jr., executive director of the Waterloo Commission on Human Rights, said. “We want them to know that we’re impartial investigators and that if we find wrong, that we do the best we can to remedy that so we can make our city strong.”

Additionally, the proposed amendments clarify that all employers also need to follow federal and state laws relating to background checks and notifying applicants about adverse hiring decisions.

Council members said this ordinance and any additional amendments would not go into effect until July 2020.

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Seattle looks to Minneapolis for solutions to handle repeat offenders  KOMO News

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As Ban the Box legislation continues to expand across the country, the proliferation of new and complicated laws challenge hiring managers, especially companies with a multi-state presence. Adam Almeida, President and CEO of CriminalBackgroundRecords.com opines: “With the recent enactment of Ban the Box legislation in Waterloo, Iowa and Columbia, South Carolina, now, more than ever, is the time for companies and organizations to work with a well-qualified third-party pre-employment background screening agency, such as CriminalBackgroundRecords.com, in order to stay compliant with existing and new law.”

WALTHAM, Mass. (PRWEB) October 14, 2019

Ban the Box laws continue to expand across the United States and the new laws could pose a challenge for employers, especially those with a multi-state presence. Adam Almeida, President and CEO of CriminalBackgroundRecords.com states: “New laws in Waterloo, Iowa and Columbia, South Carolina highlight the immediate need for hiring managers to work with a well-qualified third-party employment screening agency in order to remain fully compliant with law.”

Pre-employment background screening can be a complicated task. Adding Ban the Box laws only further complicates the process.

Almeida adds: “The challenge of compliance gets further complicated for hiring managers with every new law governing the use of criminal history reports and related documents utilized in pre-employment background screening.”

From BloombergLaw.com (Sep 09, 19):

… California’s law requires private and public employers to conduct criminal background checks after a conditional offer of employment has been made. In New Mexico—one of the latest states to adopt legislation—the question is prohibited on the initial job application, but can be asked at a subsequent interview before an offer is made. (1)

With the proliferation of Ban the Box laws there are some that question the effectiveness of reducing barriers for certain segments of society.

Almeida states: “Studies may suggest that these laws are not improving opportunity as much as one might expect, but Ban the Box laws continue to be introduced, such as the recent laws in Waterloo and Columbia.”

From USNews.com (Sep 10, 19):

Some studies show that ban the box laws could actually have a negative impact: When employers aren’t allowed to ask about applicants’ criminal background early in the hiring process, they may be more likely to assume certain applicants – especially black and Hispanic men – have a criminal history, denying jobs to qualified applicants who don’t have a criminal history. (2)

With the passage of Ban the Box laws in Waterloo, Iowa and Columbia, SC yet another layer of complexity has been added to pre-employment background screening, especially as related to criminal background records.

Specific to Columbia, South Carolina an article at JDSupra.com (Sep 9, 19) states the following:

Employers located in Columbia, South Carolina should immediately determine whether they need to revise job applications, interview guidelines, and policies and procedures for criminal background checks. Employers throughout the United States, and particularly multi-state employers, should continue to monitor developments in this and related areas of the law, including laws restricting the use of credit history information and applicable fair credit reporting laws. (3)

Almeida concludes: “A best practice remains that whenever a Ban the Box law goes into effect hiring managers should be alerted to review background screening policies, especially for companies with a multi-state presence.”

CriminalBackgroundRecords.com is a third-party background screening company with an A+ Rating from the BBB, a longtime member of the PBSA and advocate of SHRM with highly trained operators well versed in the needs and requirements of companies and organizations large and small utilizing public records, such as criminal background records, as part of a hiring process. Assisting companies in maintaining full compliance under the law is a central tenet of all client relationships with CriminalBackgroundRecords.com.

Notes:

(1)    news.bloomberglaw.com/daily-labor-report/proliferating-ban-the-box-laws-expand-patchwork-for-employers

(2)    usnews.com/news/best-states/articles/2019-09-10/ban-the-box-laws-could-negatively-impact-minorities

(3)    jdsupra.com/legalnews/columbia-south-carolina-enacts-ban-the-93265/

For the original version on PRWeb visit: https://www.prweb.com/releases/ban_the_box_continues_to_expand_continues_to_challenge_hiring_managers_opines_criminalbackgroundrecords_com/prweb16641890.htm

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Goal: 1 Million “Second Chance” Jobs  New Haven Independent

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In Waterloo, many employers, including the city, will soon be barred from asking job applicants about their criminal records until the end of the hiring process. This comes after a “ban the box” hiring ordinance won narrow approval from Wateroo’s City Council earlier this week.

Waterloo is the first city in Iowa to pass an ordinance of this kind, and will join more than 150 other cities in the country in “banning the box.” The movement has gained national traction as a counter to the often uphill struggle towards employment for those with a criminal history.

Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier Reporter Tim James joins guest host Katelyn Harrop on this “news buzz” edition of River to River to detail the debate over disclosing criminal history when applying for jobs. He also explains how the new policy will play out in the coming weeks.

Also in the program, a look at three elected officials taking on new leadership roles in the Iowa Statehouse and a conversation with Doug Burns, Co-owner of the Carroll Times Herald. The newspaper is asking the public for help after a legal battle, which they won,  left it in financial trouble. 

Guests:

• Katarina Sostaric, State Government Reporter, IPR
• Tim Jamison, Reporter, Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier
• Chris Nelson, 4th Ward Ames City Council member
• Doug Burns, Co-owner, Carroll Times Herald
• Clara Chow, University of Iowa International Writing Program Fellow
• Tony Dehner, Host, IPR Studio One 

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Council candidates sound off | News, Sports, Jobs  Fort Dodge Messenger

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The exact kind of business that seems perfect for Seattle is ditching the city, fed up with the rampant drug use, human waste, and vandalism found at their business.

Rantz: Celebrated Seattle restaurant to close, killed by rising costs 

Impact Bioenergy, a zero-waste micro food digesting company, complained multiple times to the City Council and Mayor’s office about their experiences. They barely got a response from one councilmember. And, unfortunately, the Seattle Police Department isn’t allowed to do their job.

“This is where we started, but we’re just gonna have to take a time out until there’s some sort of ability for the police to do what they want to do,” Jan Allen, president of Impact Bioenergy told The Jason Rantz Show on KTTH. “There’s no real sense of behavioral limits. It seems to be getting worse and we can’t deal with it.”

Their property keeps getting stolen and vandalized. They regularly find human waste and needles. Allen attempted to get his complaints addressed by the Council, but after a couple conversations with Councilmember Mike O’Brien, he was left dejected, not feeling like his concerns were being heard.

“I think there’s no path forward at this point,” Allen told me. “There was a little bit of discussion about policing, but I feel sorry for the police department. I don’t think being a police officer in Seattle would be very easy because the sort of lack of behavioral limits. There’s not any consequence if somebody steals something.”

This sentiment is echoed by thousands of Seattleites, tired of a Council and Mayor’s office refusing to let police do their jobs and tackle the criminals ruining life in the city. And even if they were more supportive of reasonable policing, the Seattle City Attorney, Pete Holmes, refuses to prosecute a large portion of the criminal referrals his office receives.

Rantz: Aggressive homeless threaten Seahawks tailgating

“My feeling is that the leadership of the city needs to be more courageous about recognizing that… there’s some folks that are in the city that are just taking advantage of the city’s soft touch on on street crime,” Allen says. “And it’s really difficult for the business community. And also residents, people with children, that have to be concerned with the kind of things that we got confronted with. So, whether you’re a business or family with children, or anybody really, it takes some courage to say this is not OK.”

Listen to the Jason Rantz Show weekday afternoons from 3-6 p.m. on KTTH 770 AM (or HD Radio 97.3 FM HD-Channel 3). Subscribe to the podcast here.

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WATERLOO, Iowa (KCRG) – Employees at The Ivy Trellis Cards & Gifts are still getting used to the store’s new location in downtown Waterloo.

“It’ll be a year in November,” owner Mary Heller said.

Now Heller will also have to get used to a new ordinance in the city that keeps her from asking about job applicants’ criminal records until after she’s offered them a job.

“I have kind of mixed feelings,” Heller said.

The “Fair Chance Initiative” passed in a 4-2 city council vote Monday, a month after the ordinance’s final vote was delayed because some council members were still undecided.

Heller said she uses caution when hiring anyone, regardless of their criminal background, but said she might hesitate if someone had admitted during the interview process that they had convictions on their record.

“You always worry whether somebody will fall back into the same thing they did before, theft or whatever it might be,” Heller said.

However, she said she does believe people deserve a second chance and supports the ordinance.

“You want them to make them good citizens, that they can contribute to society as well as take care of themselves, and you don’t want them to fall back into doing what they did before,” Heller said.

Abraham L. Funchess Jr., executive director of the Waterloo Commission on Human Rights, said they had been advocating for this type of ordinance for about a decade.

“It’s just very much needed. It’s the right thing to do,” Funchess said.

Funchess said “banning the box” is a big step toward helping people get a second chance after they’ve served their time.

“Historically, we understand that most times, when you check the box, employers, whether they admit or not, they have a tendency to throw these applications away,” Heller said.

Under the ordinance, businesses can only run a background check after they’ve extended a conditional job offer. After the background check, the ordinance allows employers to rescind the job offer if they have a “legitimate business reason.”

“We don’t expect employers to put child molesters in a school,” Funchess said. “We don’t expect employers to hire people who have embezzled money in banks.”

Opponents of the ordinance had argued in previous city council meetings that waiting for the state to pass this type of law first would be better than Waterloo taking the lead, but Funchess disagree.

“Justice delayed is justice denied,” Funchess countered. “We have the ability and the power to make a decision on the home front.”

While the ordinance is now on the books, discussion about it hasn’t yet wrapped up. City council is meeting next week to talk about some possible amendments to it, which Funchess said might include adding language about which businesses the ordinance covers and what happens after a business decides to rescind a job offer.

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