| August 2005 | ||
| Welcome to the August 2005 edition of the TorontoJobs.ca Employer Newsletter.
Pre-employment Criminal Checks - by Leanne Fischer, Kroll Background Screening 100 Free Resumes with each New Posting! Pre-employment Criminal Checks More and more Canadian employers are requiring criminal checks on their employees. The reasons vary from company to company but the common denominator boils it down to minimizing risk. Because employers are generally liable for the actions, intentional or otherwise, of their employees, they need to conduct a thorough enough background investigation at the time of hire, to avoid placing others in a situation of unnecessary and avoidable risk. This means that calling two or three people your applicant used to work with for a reference is no longer enough. Almost anyone can find two or three people to say some good things to help them get a job. The existence of a criminal record is important information. Would you want to hire, for a payroll position, the payroll clerk fired for embezzling almost 2 million dollars from her Canadian employer? Or, what about offering a teaching job to the 30 year teacher who was arrested last year for possession of child pornography? In another incident, a Toronto area nurse was charged with stealing a co-workers’ debit card and spending $2500 before getting caught. Imagine the liability for her new employer if, without knowledge of that criminal record, she was caught stealing again, from a group of unsuspecting patients or employees in another hospital. Knowing about a criminal record empowers you to make an informed decision about the amount of risk you are exposing your company, employees, shareholders and the public to. It doesn't mean that you should never hire anyone with a criminal record but it gives you an informed choice. If we prevent convicted criminals from ever working anywhere, we force them to return to a life of crime to survive. The key is to identify jobs where their risk to re-offend in minimized for all. Legislation varies between provinces but some require an employer to show a direct relation to the job before an employment candidate with a criminal record can be disqualified. This means that you could disqualify someone with an impaired conviction from a job driving for your company but you may have difficulty explaining how the impaired conviction prevents you from placing them in a reception position unless you can show evidence of ongoing alcohol abuse. Someone required to travel on company business needs to be criminal record free in order to leave Canada. Imagine the embarrassment for everyone when one employee, traveling to a customer site in the U.S., got stopped at airport immigration and was not permitted to leave because of a criminal record. Companies who contract out portions of their business to external vendors, call centres, installers, etc. are making it a standard part of their contract. Companies to whom they outsource are, or will be, required to conduct criminal background checks on their employees. It will be much more difficult to go back and, changing the conditions of employment, ask a long term employee to consent to a criminal background check to meet a contractual obligation. A company who implements criminal record checks now will find it easier to meet customer demands down the road. Once you make the decision, the policy needs to be administered fairly and evenly across the company. You can choose to check everyone you hire or you can choose to check for certain levels or positions but the practice must be consistent in order to avoid accusations of discrimination. Most employees can obtain their own criminal record or clearance letter from their local police. This requires them to go in person and can take anywhere from a couple of days to 5 or 6 weeks dependent on the local police procedures. Companies can also engage a third party background screening company to conduct the check, turnaround time generally from less than 1 day to a couple of days. Written consent is required in order to ensure that the person is aware a criminal check is being conducted and to enable them to provide the personal information required for the check. The information provided on the consent, as well as the resulting report, are both confidential and, as a result, should not be placed in an personnel file that company supervisors have access to when viewing performance reviews and other employee related information. Rather, a separate, locked filing system should be maintained for this sensitive and private information, storing it only as long as may be considered reasonable and necessary. Criminal checks have become a necessary and valuable part of an employer’s selection process. Carefully and properly implemented, this practice provides additional peace of mind for everyone that an employer has the safety and security of its employees, customers, shareholders, premises and the public in mind. Leanne Fischer is Business Development Manager with Kroll Background Screening, a global screening company. For more than 30 years, Kroll has investigated job candidates at all levels, for employers large and small, across all industries. You can reach Leanne at 416-956-5000 ext. 3236. Special Offer: 100 Free Resumes for each New Posting! One of our clients’ biggest concerns when posting a job is that they won’t get many responses. Well that worry is no more with our “100 free resumes guarantee!” Here’s how it works:
It’s a great idea for companies who have an immediate position
to fill! Other custom packages can be assembled to meet your specific requirements (for example: resume searches, any combination of featured jobs, featured employer, job postings, newsletter sponsorship, etc.). To discuss the type of package that would work best for you, please contact sales@torontojobs.ca or call 905-566-JOBS (5627). …most employers don’t put the location of position on their job postings? This small piece of information can make it easier for your potential employees. Including a location on your posting will allow you to receive more applications from job-seekers closer to your business. This ensures that your position in Mississauga doesn’t get as much attention from applicants in Ajax, but from those in your immediate area instead! With traffic reaching record highs and recent improvements to our online interface, there has never been a better time to be an employer on TorontoJobs.ca! Now is a great time to update your company profile, and gain some exposure for your company! Click here to update your company profile. If you are an Employment Agency, Staffing Firm, or Human Resources company, be sure to keep your listing in our Employment Agency Directory up-to-date. If you are an employer with a number of available positions, you may want to consider becoming a Featured Employer to get even more exposure for your company and job listings on TorontoJobs.ca. For more information on Featured Job listings and Featured Employer status, please contact sales@torontojobs.ca or call 905-566-JOBS (5627). Do you have any comments, questions or suggestions for improvement for TorontoJobs.ca? Would you be interested in contributing an article for a future TorontoJobs.ca newsletter (either for other companies or for job seekers)? We would be happy to hear from you. Please email sales@torontojobs.ca. Thank you for taking the time to read our Employers Newsletter. If you have any questions or comments about the content of this newsletter, or would like to learn more, please feel free to contact us.
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