International
Screening
FAQs
The following is a brief introduction to our services and answers to frequently asked questions. Please contact Chimera LLC by email, fax, or phone for additional information. We provide pre-employment screening services to businesses only. We usually work with Human Resources and Security Departments.
- Why use employment screening?
- How do we do it?
- How will I order a search request?
- Is it legal?
- What is Due Diligence?
- What is negligent hiring and retention?
- How can negligent hiring and retention affect me?
- Does my firm risk alienating applicants?
- What’s involved in setting up a screening program?
- Why should a firm outsource this service?
- What is the Fair Credit Reporting Act?
- Is Chimera LLC FCRA-complaint?
- Do foreign countries have their own privacy laws?
- Does the FCRA apply to foreign countries?
1. Why use employment screening?
- The consequences of making a bad hire can be very costly, and not just from a monetary standpoint. Pre-employment screening helps to ensure a safe and productive workplace, by reducing the risk of a bad hire. There are four major reasons that employers might consider pre-employment screening:
- Screening discourages applicants with something to hide, such as a criminal history. It also discourages applicants from submitting false information on their applications.
- Screening eliminates uncertainty in the hiring process. Unfortunately, some employers learned hard lessons by trying to rely on instinct. Obtaining verifiable information is an important part of the hiring process.
- Screening can demonstrate due diligence in the hiring process. Employers have a reasonable duty of care in the hiring process. Simply put, employers must take reasonable steps to determine whether an employee is fit for a particular job. Consider the case of a carpet cleaner who goes into a customer’s home. If the employer did not make a reasonable effort to determine if the carpet cleaner had a criminal record, and the cleaner assaults the customer, the employer could be liable.
- Screening encourages honesty in the application and interview process. The fact that a company has a screening program encourages applicants to be more honest about their history.
- A background screening program is not a 100% guarantee against hiring a bad applicant. There is competition among screening firms, and some of the prices that are charged are clearly inadequate to support an in-depth, comprehensive background investigation. Employers need to balance the cost with the risk they are taking. The fact that an employer has a screening program can demonstrate due diligence and provides an employer with a great deal of legal protection.
Eliminating uncertainty in the hiring process demonstrates due diligence, and screening effectively eliminates the uncertainty. Some of the elements of a screening process are Education Verifications, Social Security Traces, and Criminal Court Histories. Each of these elements plays a different role, but all can be used to show due diligence in the event of a negligent hiring lawsuit. Employers often check an applicant’s credit history to determine if they are fiscally responsible. Employers should note that a screening program provides information about how a person conducted themselves with regard to the public aspects of their lives. In addition, criminal records and previous job performance give an employer information about how an applicant has conducted himself/herself and performed his/her duties and responsibilities.
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Chimera deals directly with employers, and has a worldwide network of people and entities that support the process. Once we receive an employment application from the employer, together with the appropriate releases, we search the appropriate public and private records and we contact schools, licensing authorities, and previous employers. We produce a written report of our findings, and make that report available to the employer in electronic format.
Chimera is always available for consultation with our clients on background screening issues.
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3. How will I order a search request?
Search requests can be ordered via our website (http://www.chimerallc.com/), by phone, by fax or in person at our office. We prefer that our clients order searches online since it is the easiest and most efficient way to order background checks. Chimera’s system is powerful, secure and easy to use.
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4. Is background screening legal?
Chimera goes to great lengths to ensure that all procedures are compliant with all applicable legal standards. Chimera also ensures that employers comply with the applicable legal standards, such as providing applicants with copies of our reports and the appropriate notices of consumer rights. Employers can be confident that the rights of their applicants are being protected.
In the event of an adverse action, Chimera can provide the applicant with the notice required by the FCRA, if the employers requests Chimera to do so. Of course, the employer can provide the notice if it so chooses.
Chimera is not engaged in the dispensing of legal advice, but our staff undergoes extensive training on the Fair Credit Reporting Act, Federal, State, and international laws regarding privacy and discrimination. We are supported by legal counsel with the most extensive background in pre-employment screening in the industry.
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Due Diligence is a term used for many different business aspects. It is like ”doing your homework“ before making decisions regarding such things as hiring, buying a company, making an investment, or taking on a new customer. In the hiring process, an employer is entitled under the FCRA to research a potential employee’s background before making the hiring decision.
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6. What is negligent hiring and retention?
Negligent hiring can be defined as an employer’s failure to exercise reasonable care in the hiring of an employee, and negligent retention occurs when an employer retains an employee after learning of information that would have prevented that employee from being hired in the first place. There have been many documented cases where an employer has been held financially and legally responsible for the criminal actions of employees who were not subjected to a reasonable pre-employment screening process. These court decisions have made the employers responsible for knowing certain basic information about their employees. There have been judgments against employers in the millions.
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7. Does my firm risk alienating applicants?
Experience has shown that good job applicants are not discouraged by a pre-employment screening program. Screening is conducted in a manner that respects and protects the applicant’s privacy.
Our release form advises your applicant that:
"A background check is not only for the benefit of the company as a sound business practice, but also for the benefit of all employees. It is no reflection on an applicant."
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8. How can negligent hiring and retention can affect me?
Employers have been found to be responsible for actions of their employees, even to the extent of criminal activities by the employee during non-working hours, in negligent hiring and retention The consequences can be enormous, and have even forced some companies into bankruptcy.
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10. What’s involved in setting up a screening program?
As an employer, you should inform applicants that you have a screening program in effect. You will provide them with two release forms (that we will provide). You either scan and email the forms to us, or simply fax them. Either way, you also send Chimera the search order form. For education, professional licensing, or past employment verifications, you will also send us the application or the applicant’s resume. A Chimera LLC consultant can work with you to set-up a screening program that meets your needs.
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10. Why should a firm outsource this service?
Pre-employment screening is an established industry, with thousands of companies offering their services. These companies are highly experienced and highly efficient. The actual procedures can be very detailed, and can involve many hours of staff time. Further, a screener needs to have specialized knowledge in order to protect both the employer and the applicant. Employers may not have the in-house expertise to safely carry out the process.
Large employers, with fully staffed Human Resources departments, have determined that outsourcing is efficient, not overly expensive, and it allows existing employees to focus on other responsibilities. Also, employers sometimes prefer that a new hire’s first contact with HR not be in the form of a background check. Finally, a new hire may feel more comfortable if the background check is performed by an independent source rather than by other employees in the same company.
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11. What is the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA)?
The Fair Credit Reporting Act, which is enforced by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), provides guidelines for employers to follow when conducting employment screening. The FCRA requirements apply whenever an employer requests a "consumer report" or "investigative consumer report" from a consumer-reporting agency such as Chimera. A "consumer report" includes any written, oral, or other communication of any information by a consumer reporting agency regarding a consumer's credit worthiness, credit standing, credit capacity, character, general reputation, personal characteristics, or mode of living which is used as a factor to establish the consumer's eligibility for employment. The FCRA requires that employers must comply with certain reporting requirements when using a consumer reporting agency to screen employees or applicants. To obtain a consumer report from a consumer reporting agency, the employer must first provide certification to the consumer reporting agency that the employer:
- Is requesting the report for employment purposes (which includes evaluating an applicant or employee for employment, promotion, reassignment, or retention as an employee).
- Has provided the required disclosure to the applicant or employee.
- Has obtained the necessary written authorization to request the report.
- Will provide the applicant or employee with a copy of the report and a written description of the applicant or employee's rights before taking any adverse action based in whole or in part on the report.
- Will not use the information from the report in a manner that violates federal or state equal employment opportunity laws.
The FCRA requires any employer intending to obtain a consumer report to first make a clear and conspicuous written disclosure to the applicant or employee that a consumer report may be obtained for employment purposes. The disclosure cannot be included in an employment application or other document that contains additional information. The employer must also obtain the employee's or applicant's written authorization before obtaining the report.
For more information about FCRA click here: http://www.ftc.gov/os/statutes
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12. Does Chimera LLC comply with the FCRA?
Absolutely. Chimera LLC is fully FCRA-compliant. As a consumer-reporting agency, Chimera abides by all Federal and State regulations set forth by the FCRA. In addition, Chimera LLC assists employers in complying with the FCRA. We will provide you with the forms needed for you to comply with the FCRA. We monitor changes in the FCRA, Federal and State laws and regulations, and we inform our clients of such changes. This allows our clients to have confidence in their screening program.
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13. Do foreign countries have privacy laws like the FCRA?
Yes, foreign countries have privacy laws. Chimera’s responsibility is to ensure that we comply with such laws when we collect information on an applicant in a foreign country. The manner in which data is collected, transmitted and used must adhere to the privacy laws of the country in which you are searching. Chimera requires written consent from the applicant before collecting such information.
There are often difficulties in obtaining education records from schools in foreign countries. Some schools simply won’t release degree information, others will not accept a standard release form, and others require the applicant to contact them directly to authorize the release of the information.
Employers must be cognizant of the foreign country’s privacy laws with respect to the manner in which information is used in the hiring process. For example, if you are hiring a resident of a foreign country for a job in that country, the rules of that foreign country will apply. If your are hiring a U.S. resident for a U.S. job, you follow Federal and State law. In the situation where you are hiring a resident of a foreign country for a job in the U.S., employers should exercise due diligence before making the hiring decision. Since the job is to be performed in the U.S it is likely that you will make your decision under the rules that the U.S currently has in place.
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14. Does the FCRA apply to foreign countries?
The FCRA is a U.S. Federal law that was enacted to protect the privacy of U.S. citizens. There are a variety of similar laws in other countries, such as the PIPEDA in Canada, and a ”Safe Harbor“ in European countries. Even though parts of the FCRA may be very similar to privacy laws in other countries, the FCRA does not apply directly to foreign countries.
Employers need to ensure that they do not cross the line in obtaining information about job applicants in foreign countries. Chimera’s responsibility in conducting international screening is to make sure that all information obtained and transmitted is in compliance with the applicable laws and regulations.
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