Posts

COVID-19 Vaccines And Job Listings: Ways to Provide Comfort To Potential Employees

/in /by

StrategyDriven Managing Your People Article |COVID-19|COVID-19 Vaccines And Job Listings: Ways to Provide Comfort To Potential EmployeesDebates about the coronavirus vaccines and workplace mandates have everyone up in arms. As employers try to fill vacancies to enhance productivity and boost their bottom line, they run into serious challenges. Should you aim for herd immunity and mandate that employees and new hires get the COVID-19 vaccine? More importantly, how do you prevent these changes from discouraging ideal candidates from applying?

Encourage Vs. Require

Unless you own a business in the healthcare, warehouse, or retail industry, your best bet is to encourage instead of requiring employees to get the vaccine. Mandates can feel controlling and cause hesitant applicants to look elsewhere for employment. On the other hand, encouraging your employees through informative materials, seminars, training, communication, incentives, and reasonable accommodations lets applicants know they have a choice.

Work With An Expert

There’s a lot of misinformation out there about the COVID-19 vaccines. This type of content often fuels personal fears, prompting employees to remain hesitant about getting vaccinated. Trying to argue these claims on your own isn’t very assuring. If you’re going to make potential employees feel comfortable, the most efficient solution is to work with a few experts.

An attorney, healthcare professional, and human resources expert are better positioned to provide fact-based information. Consult with them to find out how to draft and implement your policy in a way that protects your business and your staff. Make a note of the experts or reputable resources you used to develop your policies to put applicants’ minds at ease.

Make It Plain

Life amid the pandemic is already unpredictable, so don’t make matters worse. If you want to ease the concerns of job seekers, you should state your company policies and requirements plain and clear. When creating posts for job boards, list the need for a job background check and policies or incentives for the COVID-19 vaccine. While this tactic might drive some applicants elsewhere, at the very least, it shows that your company is honest, transparent, and upfront. If they chose to continue with the application process, informing them upfront also allows them to prepare.

Offer Reasonable Accommodations

If an applicant expresses that they have reservations about the COVID-19 vaccine or objects due to religion or disabilities, be prepared to offer reasonable accommodations. You can allow them to work remotely, reduced hours in-house, or a hybrid version of the two options. If you have departments that don’t require a vaccine, you can recommend compatible positions. If they’re financially strapped, you can offer incentives like cash bonuses, transportation discounts, or paid time off to anyone that wants to get the vaccine.

Offering reasonable accommodations when applicants inquire boosts their confidence and lets down their guard. Potential employees will know that you’re interested in what they have to offer and that you’re willing to go the extra mile to accommodate their needs. This could encourage them to accept a job offer.

Highlight Other Health And Safety Measures

If you’re still on the fence about the COVID-19 vaccine mandate, or you’ve decided against it, you can still make job seekers feel comfortable working with your organization. On your company website or in the job description, ensure that you highlight other health and safety measures you’ve implemented. If they know that you require wellness checks, face masks, gloves, social distancing, frequent handwashing, and additional cleaning services, they’ll be less fearful about being in the workplace.

The COVID-19 pandemic has wreaked havoc on businesses in various industries. Business owners had to do what they could to survive while keeping their employees, customers, and the general public safe. Now that the coronavirus vaccines are on the scene, they have helped some sense of normalcy and control. As you begin putting up ads for available positions, remember to prioritize job seekers’ health, safety, and comfort. By applying the strategies above, you can put their minds at ease and increase your chances of attracting top talent despite the madness.

What Should You Look For When You Conduct a Background Check?

/in /by

StrategyDriven Talent Management Article | What Should You Look For When You Conduct a Background Check?If you are taking a look at applicants, you might be wondering who you should run a background check on. Ideally, you would like to run a background check on everyone. In actuality, background checks can be expensive, and you are probably only going to run background checks on people who you are seriously considering for an open position. As a result, you want to use the best background check possible. With the vast majority of companies running background checks on people they are considering for open positions, you need to know what to look for. What are the items that you should consider if you are conducting a background check?

Look for Signs of a Criminal Record First

Without a doubt, the most important element that you need to consider is the presence of a criminal record. Of course, being convicted of a crime does not necessarily make someone a bad person. On the other hand, if you are responsible for the actions of an employee, you do not want to place your other employees or customers in harm’s way unnecessarily. In addition to hurting other people, this could place the company in an awkward position. Remember that an applicant cannot be turned down because of the presence of a criminal record alone. On the other hand, an employer could turn down someone if the offense committed is directly related to the duties of the position. This means that the specific nature of the crime could make you a liability to the company. For example, if someone was convicted of theft and the open position was at a bank, this would be an issue.

Therefore, what should you look for if you are conducting a criminal background check? First, you should take a look at felony convictions. Are there any felony convictions present? If so, what are they? Then, you should look at federal crimes as well. These are separate from state crimes, which make up the majority of convictions. In addition, you should also take a look and see if the individual is a registered sex offender. That might be relevant to the open position.

If you are doing a deep background check, you may check other criminal records as well. For example, there may be information listed on the global homeland security database. Or, you may even pull up an international criminal history. Be sure to consider these criminal records as well, as they can be important.

Confirm Someone’s Identity

This may sound like it is superfluous. After all, you require people to produce a photo ID, don’t you? You even ask them for their social security number if you are hiring someone, right? Unfortunately, technology has made it easy to steal someone’s identity. Therefore, you need to make sure that someone is who they say they are. Why would someone lie about their identity on an employment application? Perhaps they are collecting benefits that may disappear if they got another job. For this reason, you should also confirm someone’s identity as part of a background check.

Don’t Forget About a Credit Check

Finally, you may also want to conduct a credit check as well. A credit check is important for positions that involve money management. If an applicant is going to be managing the company’s money, you want to make sure they can manage their own money well. If they cannot manage their own money well, how are they going to be able to manage the money of the company? Therefore, you need to order a credit check. Make sure the credit report is accurate. If you see any issues on the credit report, you may want to check with the applicant to make sure these are completely understood before moving forward.

Conduct a Thorough Background Check Before Hiring Someone

Ultimately, these are a few of the most important factors that you need to consider if you are conducting a background check on a potential candidate. Make sure that you have all the information you needed to make a proper hiring decision. Conducting a dive into someone’s background can help you make the right choice.

Florida criminal record check: Decoding the Legal Rights!

/in /by

StrategyDriven Talent Management Article |Criminal Record Check|Florida criminal record check: Decoding the Legal Rights!‘You lose nothing in proving your innocence. However, you may lose trust and confidence by not!’

According to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE), in 2018, there were more than 80,000 violent crimes and approximately 485,000 property crime cases in the state. With such a high crime rate, it is not surprising that various people, especially employers, are demanding a criminal record check.

However, not many people are aware that they can quickly get access to the information of any person from the FDLE. All you have to do is request the information you need from the Division of Criminal Justice Information Services (CJIS) and pay the required fees. [ Section 943.053, F.S. ]

Needless to say, it is a commendable service provided by the FDLE to the public seeking crucial information.

But, we can’t ignore that laws can get complicated, particularly those related to crime. Generally, numerous questions surround the rules, and it is not easy to get the answer to each one of those questions. You require plenty of time and dedication to learn everything efficiently, which you might not have.

That’s why we have gathered some essential questions and provided their answers in simplified language. Are you ready to learn? Let’s get started!

Criminal record check and a background check: Are They Similar?

Let us begin with the basics. Do you think criminal record investigation and background checks are the same thing? If yes, then we would like to correct you. Both of these terms are different. However, just like you, several other people also use these terms interchangeably.

Confusing? Wait, let us clear your cloud of confusion!

To check someone’s background (which generally a company does before recruiting any person) means checking their credit history, driver record, or asking their previous employer and neighbor about them. In simple terms, collecting general information.

Perhaps, let’s talk about the criminal record check. It means investigating if the person has committed a crime, whether or not he/she has ever been arrested or if they have been involved in fraudulent activity of any kind. Basically, investigating every police record.

Also, keep in mind that it is a part of the background check and not the background check itself.

What does it include?

As per the Florida laws, there are two levels of investigation:

Level 1: It includes state records, i.e., local criminal history. It is based on the offender’s name and may also have a national sex offender registry or employment history.

Level 2: It includes the national records, i.e., based on the fingerprint and FBI (Federal Bureau of Investigation). Moreover, according to section 435.04 F.S., it is mandatory to perform a fingerprint background check on the employees for every company.

Requirements for state history record check and national history record check
Now that you know about availing information from FDLE let us brief you about the requirements.

For state check: To get the information, you need to submit the person’s name request and fingerprint card. Bear in mind that you need to add a return address, the name of the person you want to get information about, age, race, sex, and social security number (if possible). You can submit the request using online mode and by paying the fees.

For national check: As per the law:

  • Only a government organization can get the receipt of history.
  • You need to sign the user agreement (meaning you comply with the FBI’s said terms and conditions).
  • Need to process the fingerprints from the state repository before requesting national records.
  • Need to submit specific documents and licenses as requested.

Who is allowed to request a criminal history check?

No other entity except the government can request for national history record investigation. On the other hand, for state history records, companies (both public and private) and citizens have the right to request information. To be specific, it includes:

  • Convenience store/ grocery store
  • Employees
  • Taxi drivers
  • Any organization employing a person for the care of children, elders, or disabled (as per the provision of the National Child Protection Act).

Why does the employer ask for a background check?

For every business owner, it is crucial that every person working for him/her feel protected. But how will you ensure the protection of your employees? One of the ways is by getting a background check. It will ensure that there are no threats in the organization due to any person.

Besides, the state laws also make it mandatory for every organization to get a background check before hiring any new person.

How can you seal and expunge your criminal record?

But, what if you had a criminal record in the past? Even if it were a false accusation, it would be in your record for the rest of your life. That’s why the experts at https://www.fighterlaw.com/practice-areas/criminal-defense/record-sealing-and-expunging/ recommend sealing and expunging your record when you can. However, first, you have to make sure that you qualify for the sealing.

If you qualify, you need to provide the court’s certificate of eligibility while applying for the petition. You can get the certificate from the FDLE, and it will be valid for one year only. Once the judge approves your petition, your record will be sealed or expunged.

What charges cannot be sealed or expunged?

That’s right! Not every offense can be sealed or expunged. You must be wondering what these offenses are? Well, these are as follows:

  • Child abuse
  • Manslaughter (homicide)
  • Robbery/ Home invasion
  • Domestic violence
  • Arson (setting the property on fire)

These are punishable offenses, and it is crucial for any person with such allegations to stay far away from their loved ones.

What is the difference between a sealed record and an expunged record?

Generally, both of these terms are used to imply the deletion of the records. However, there is a significant difference between the two. To expunge a record means criminal charges are entirely deleted, both legally and physically. On the other side, to seal a record means that it will exist in the legal document and is accessible to the court.

Conclusion

Laws are complicated and need a lot of time. That’s why many people avoid getting into the details. But how can one forget that law is for our protection, and it is vital to understand them? Hence, to help you get familiar with Florida criminal law, we answer the most significant questions. So that you know what to do if you ever face any situation related to violating the laws.