August 25th, 2016 | Sterling

The Immense Value of Re-Checking Employees

This month’s blog deals with re-checking of employees and volunteers. If you haven’t read my previous blogs on Vulnerable Sector Verifications (April 2016) and Sterling Talent Solutions’ EPIC service (June 2016), you might wish to do so. Understanding both topics will help to frame this discussion.

Readers will recognize that background checks should be subject to review from time to time because the information is dynamic and can change. This is certainly true of criminal record and police information checks. In keeping with the overall management of risk, organizations increasingly require that their employees or volunteers be re-checked periodically. Whether or not re-checking occurs and how often are questions that are answered by policy makers, legal counsel and insurance underwriters. Sterling Talent Solutions’ role is to provide trusted advice and real-world solutions designed so that organizations can implement protocols that are compliant and efficient.

When we talk about police and criminal information re-checking, there are two areas that merit closer review. These aspects are re-checking in a manner that is more comprehensive by using EPIC and re-checking in a manner that makes sense for the Vulnerable Sector. Both share some commonality as you are about to see below.

To begin, I will explain why organizations should choose EPIC for conducting initial screening and subsequent re-checks. The following is a list of information that EPIC will uncover that a standard Criminal Record search of the National Repository will not:

• Convictions that cannot be lawfully sent to the National Repository
• Convictions that police services have not sent/may never send to the National Repository
• Convictions that have been sent to the National Repository but are not yet available due to delays in uploading the information
• Charges that are pending and any associated bail conditions
• Arrest warrants that have been issued by the courts
• Terms of prohibition in effect that a court imposed as a result of a conviction
• Prohibition orders issued by a court as a result of a conviction (usually pertaining to driving or firearms offences)
• Peace Bonds that are in effect (commonly referred to as restraining orders)

Even if EPIC was not used initially to screen the applicant who now works or volunteers in your organization, re-checking using EPIC will provide added confidence that your valued talent was not, or has not become, adversely involved with the criminal justice system. In those instances where EPIC uncovers information that may be relevant, your organization is now positioned to assess the risk it presents and to respond.

Now, let’s talk about re-checking for the Vulnerable Sector. It is important to note that our EPIC service consists of the same component searches as a Vulnerable Sector Verification (VSV) with the exception that it does not include a search of the Pardoned Sex Offender Data Base. Searching this data base is a process that is outlined in the Criminal Records Act. Having read my April 2016 blog on this subject, you will have a good understanding of that process. If your organization requires a search of the pardoned sex offender data base, you have no choice but to follow the current federal policy which requires the applicant to deal with his or her local police service. If your applicant is under the age of 30 however, you’re strongly encouraged to also review my May 2016 blog.

Based on my experience as a former Director General of the National Repository of criminal records, I can state with confidence that in every instance of vulnerable sector re-checking when conducted for the incumbent position, you are wasting your time and expense and that of your employee or volunteer. Just as important, you’re missing an opportunity to introduce a secure, efficient and convenient re-checking protocol because your employees and volunteers must instead interact with the police service where they live. While uninformed and outdated policies imposing a VSV re-checking requirement persist, the fact is, there is no additional information to be discovered.

Here’s why:

Pardons – or record suspensions as they are now termed – must first exist as convictions that are unsealed and therefore accessible via searches of locally and nationally held records. Even minor convictions require a five year wait time that only begins after all penalties and terms of probation have been completed. This is followed by the time required to complete Parole Board of Canada’s record suspension application process, and this means that all convictions are visible to a re-checking protocol that searches both national and local information (such as provided with EPIC) at a minimum, for seven years!

In fact, not only is there no risk to be mitigated by repeating a VSV process, the imposition of a VSV re-checking policy is more likely to introduce risks. When re-checking means conducting another (pointless) VSV at a police front counter, it means that:

• Any paper results the police service provides may transit the hands of the employee or volunteer making them subject to forgery or alteration
• Other relevant search information becomes part and parcel of the VSV process the police conduct and is subject to the same risk of forgery or alteration
• Possible refusals on the part of the police service to conduct the VSV if it does not agree with your organization that the subject position meets Criminal Record Act criteria
• Turnaround times will vary by police jurisdiction and may hamper your operations
• Wide variances in cost by jurisdiction
• An inconvenient and potentially negative experience for your employee or volunteer that is both unnecessary and avoidable

All of which result in an uneven, inconsistent protocol that your organization does not fully control.

Candidates accept that initial screening is a prerequisite to placement so they are usually prepared for the associated inconveniences and expense. Where re-checking is concerned, your employees and volunteers, screened and now valued members of your organization, deserve a sound re-checking protocol; one that is built on convenience, compliance and security. Sterling Talent Solutions’ EPIC helps clients to achieve organizational integrity. Let us help you to implement or enhance your organization’s re-checking protocols.

Next month, I’ll be examining the balance between background screening and information disclosure processes.

For more information on the various background checks available and re-screening best practices, read our eBook: Background Screening 101.

Background Screening 101

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