2. Bio…
PROFESSIONAL
• U.S.Air Force Retired
• Stations Served
• Peterson AFB, Colorado Springs,CO
• Carswell AFB, FtWorth,TX
• Comiso AS, Sicily, Italy
• Patrick AFB, Satellite Beach, FL
• NellisAFB, LasVegas, NV
• Post-Military Fields
• Employment Services
• Training
• Business Owner
• Education & Certifications
• M.A., Organizational Management
• Certified Internal Investigations
Administrator
Michael
PERSONAL
• Grew up in NewYork and Florida
• Married to Monique
• Two grown daughters
• Two old dogs
Hobbies & Interests
• Music and Guitar playing
• Writing
3. On-Boarding Process
The majority of Employer Backgrounds are conducted during the pre-hire
process.
Today, employers are increasingly turning to pre-employment background
screening to minimize legal and financial risk to their companies.
No longer can a company take an applicant at face value. Background checks are
no longer a luxury, backgrounds checks are a necessity.
• Job Posting
• Résumé Collection
• Screening Interview Background Pre-Employment Check
• Selection Interview
• Applicant Selection
4. Hiring Decision
On average, in U.S. businesses, at least half of all new
hires “don’t work out.” The U.S. Department of Labor
estimates that the average cost of a bad hiring
decision can equal 30% of the employee’s potential
earnings during the first year of employment.
But that estimate is low–many submit that the
number is closer to 100% for non-management
personnel and 150% to 200% for management.
5. Why Conduct Pre-Employment Screening?
• The Society for Human Resource Management states
50% of all resumes contain one major fabrication.
• TheWall Street Journal said that 34% of all application
forms contain outright lies about experience, education
and the ability to perform essential functions of the job.
• College and University registrars report that at least 60%
of the verifications they receive contain falsified
information.
6. Avoid Losing Bottom Line Revenue!
• 3 out of 10 Business Failures are DueTo
EmployeeTheft.
• Liability Issues & Costly Litigation Fees.
• TheftWithinYour Organization - Cost $39
Billion in 2012.
• Violence in the Workplace – Cost $36
Billion - 16,400 threats monthly, 723
workers attacked & 43,800 harassed daily.
• Safety & Security for Family &
Employees.
• EmployeeTurnovers – averages 1/3
annual salary to replace.
• Résumé Fraud – 5 out of 10 applicants lie
on their résumé.
• Discrimination Lawsuits – keep
consistent, standard checks.
• Non-Compliance Issues – be FCRA
Compliant – avoid fines.
7. Benefits of Pre-Screening Applicants
• Discourages applicants with something to
hide.
• Uncovers falsified or “puffed” credentials.
• Eliminates uncertainties in the hiring
process.
• Demonstrates due diligence.
• Encourages applicants to be honest and
truthful.
• Saves money & time spent on recruiting,
hiring and training.
• Can help protect against negligent hiring
lawsuits.
What else…
• Reduces change of injury to employees.
• Reduces employee theft.
• Reduces turnover.
• Reduces workplace violence.
• Reduces insurance premiums.
• Increases productivity and employee
morale.
12. Can Happen to Anyone…
• Life circumstances can turn the most loyal
or veteran employee on to the wrong
path
• Employee may feel ashamed
• Fear of losing job
• Family run businesses especially
vulnerable
13. Substance Abuse in the Workplace
Of the 17.4 million current illicit drug users
aged 18 or older, 13.1 million (75.3%) were
employed either full or part time
• Drug Abusers are:
• 3 times more likely to be involved in an accident.
• Likely to take more, and longer absences from
work.
• 5 times more likely to file forWorkers’
Compensation.
• Less productive, usually functioning at 65% of their
work potential.
14. Substance Abuse
• The excessive use of a substance including alcohol,
illegal drugs or use of prescription drugs without a
prescription…
• Result of use can cause:
• Failure to fulfill work obligations
• Repeated absences
• Damage to property or harm to co-workers or self while
working under the influence.
15. Mistake Employers Make
•Mistake: Supervisor notifies employee that they have a
drug test coming up in a week or two
•Solution: Only give employee a two-hour window to
appear for a drug test
16. Mistake
•Mistake: Give applicants a week to go in for a pre-
employment drug screen
•Solution: Notify applicant they must appear for testing
immediately or within 24 hours to be eligible for
employment
17. Mistake
•Mistake: Allow post-accident or reasonable suspicion
employees drive themselves to collection site
•Solution: Make sure a Supervisor or employee drives
donor directly to collection site
18. Mistake
•Mistake: Want to send an employee in for a drug test
with no drug testing policy in place
•Solution: Implement a workplace drug testing policy
before doing any type of testing and then send
employees in for testing
19. DrugTesting Products
Alcohol DetectionTests
Dip & Read DrugTests
Instant Pipette DrugTests
Integrated Cup DrugTests
Nicotine DetectionTests
Saliva DrugTests
DNA PaternityTesting
Home DrugTesting includes:
• Materials to educate parents on the types of drugs teens are using, signs of substance abuse and
long term effects.
• Lists of local resources where you can go for help if your teen tests positive for any drug. Rehab
centers, therapists, counselors and addiction specialists.
20. On-Site Collection Services for DOT Agencies
Specimen Collection Provided
• Pre-employment
• Random
• Post-Accident
• Reasonable Suspicion
• Return to Duty
• Follow-up
DOT Certified Collector
21. What AreThe Benefits Of A Drug-Free Workplace?
• Increased productivity.
• Reduced turnover.
• Reduced tardiness.
• Reduced absenteeism.
• Safer work environment
• Saving of valuable time on the hiring process.
• Hiring only drug free employees.
• Reduced health insurance costs.
• Workers Comp Insurance Incentives - many States require a 5% discount.
22. General Facts about Drugs and Kids in the U.S.
• The average age for kids to begin experimenting with illegal substances is 13.
• The potency of marijuanaTHC levels is 15-20 times stronger than marijuana in the
1970s
• Every year from 1975 to 1999, at least 82% of high school seniors surveyed have
said they find marijuana "fairly easy" or "very easy" to obtain. In 2000, 88.5% of
high school seniors said it was fairly or very easy to obtain.
• 60 percent of youngsters who use marijuana before age 15 go on to use cocaine.
• Columbia University has found that kids who smoke marijuana are 85 times more
likely to use cocaine than their non-marijuana smoking peers.
• The U.S. has higher rates of illicit drug use by young people than European nations,
as noted by the Monitoring the Future survey. “The MTF study found that in 1999,
41% of tenth grade student in the U.S. had used marijuana or cannabis at lease
once in their lifetimes. All participating European countries averaged 17%.
23. More Facts…
• On average, kids found by their parents to be using drugs, have been using
for two years prior to discovery.
• Most medical insurance policies have a clause that allows them to not pay a
medical claim “if there is an illegal substance in the system, or an illegal act
is being performed at the time of the loss.” Parents can be held legally
responsible for those bills.
• Average cost of drug rehabilitation is $20K - $30K a month, with few, if any
medical insurers paying anything on such a claim.
• The number of offenders under age 18 admitted to prison for drug offenses
increased twelve fold (from 70 to 840) between 1985 to 1997. By 1997, drug
offenders made up 11% of admissions among persons under 18 compared to
2% in 1985.
24. Other Services…
• DISC Assessments
• Personal Growth
• ImproveWorkplace
Communications
• Job Profiling
• Identify Strengths &Weaknesses
• AssessmentTypes
• Management-Staff
• Sales
• Career Planning
• Workplace Behavior
• And many more….
• Workplace Investigations
• Evidence Gathering
• Interviews
• Documentation
• Most common types of Investigations:
• Discrimination
• Harassment
• HostileWork Environment
• Safety Issues
• Employee Misconduct
• WorkplaceTheft
• Drug & Alcohol Use
LAWSUITS
A car rental company recently paid $750,000 to an employee who was raped by a fellow employee.
A guard service was found guilty for inadequately checking a guard's references when the guard helped steal from their client. The charge - negligent hiring as they failed to investigate and the employee had a criminal record. The damages paid were over $300,000.
An employee who had previously been convicted of passing bad checks forged signatures on sales contracts. The court judged his employer negligent and awarded $175,000.
After driving for a telephone company for only a week, an employee was involved in a traffic accident. The jury learned that the company never saw the employee's driver's record which had five traffic tickets within 18 months. They awarded the injured party $550,000.
An Appellate Court awarded $4 million to a woman who was raped by an employee. His employment application indicated no criminal convictions and the employer did not perform a complete background check.
A hospital was found negligent in hiring a kidney transplant coordinator who was unskilled in reading medical charts. As a result, a patient was given a transplant of a cancerous kidney which resulted in his death.
Let’s be honest, there really is no “perfect method” when placing complete trust in a stranger – but before you hand over the keys to your home or business, there are “risk management” measures you can take.
During the on-boarding process, it’s important to ensure a standardized process to avoid liabilities. A standardized process doesn’t leave out details and also is easier to follow because everyone knows how it works and there are no surprises. You can offer an applicant a tentative job offer, but base the final decision on the background screening outcome.
Two incidences that I can share…
Ed Ball alcohol
David Stern gambling
#1 - While America holds on about 6% of the world’s population, we are in the 67% in the world’s use of drugs. We are essentially the “junkies” of the world.
# 2 – 70% of the illegal drugs used are consumed by people in the workforce.
#3 – Small Business Owners are most vulnerable, why? Because many of the larger companies who have a Drug Free Workplace policy are forcing applicants to apply at the smaller companies who don’t have a policy. 80% of all companies in America have under 500 employees, and only 3% of these companies have any kind of drug prevention program in place.
A number that I was given is a cost of $11,000 per year per drug abusive employee.
Devising a Workplace Policy is the first step for employers seeking a Drug Free Workplace that includes supervisor training on recognizing and handling potential drug abuse. The employee also needs to be made aware of the “benefits” of a drug free workplace and that it’s not just another workplace consequence.
