Post 9/11 the world as we knew it changed forever. With the ever-present threat of terrorist attacks, the world has become filled with distrust and suspicion. With the increased emphasis on security issues today, it has become commonplace in almost all sectors, for companies and employers to take extra caution by running employment background checks into the credentials and records of potential employees. Background checks are not limited to just new applicants; even current employees may undergo background screening to help employers in their decision making such as the promotion of employees.
While companies cannot be blamed for being extra vigilant in the face of such threat, employees are generally not comfortable with the idea of having some stranger run a personal background check. It can feel very intrusive when employers dig out episodes from the employees' past, which should have no bearing or relevance to their qualification and suitability for the job at hand. If you are a potential candidate faced with a similar situation, you have every right to question the necessity of such personal background checks, and to have a say about what information can be covered in the background report and what cannot. Of course, if you have not broken any law or have any blemish on your record, you have nothing to fear from these routine background screenings.
Below are further reasons why there is a marked rise in the use of background checks:
* Following the terrorist acts of September 11, 2001, Federal Law and in some cases the State Laws have made background checks mandatory for certain kinds of employment in order to enforce tougher and more thorough screenings of new job applicants and even current employees.
* On the heels of major corporate scandals such as Enron, even top management and CEOS of corporations are no longer exempt from scrutiny and also subject to screening and checks into their background.
* In professions dealing with children, the rise in incidents such as child kidnapping and child abuse have necessitated criminal background checks of applicants in order to protect the innocent children from such predators. Some laws also facilitate this screening, such as the Federal Law of National Child Protection Act, which authorizes state officials to access the FBI's National Crime Information Center (NCIC) database to perform background checks on job applicants. The same is true of professions dealing with elderly or disabled persons.
* In certain sectors, the use of falsified documents to get a job is on the rise. According to estimates, some 30% to 40% of the applicants' resumes are forged in some way or another. In such cases, background checks can help weed out the unqualified from the qualified candidates.
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