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The Key to Employment Background Checks is to Read Them

Time and time again you read about a well intended public service agency or a community service or youth group running background checks only to discover months and even years later that those in charge of the oversight forgot to read them.   Either the officials in charge forgot to read the background checks or just didn’t read them thoroughly.

You hear about law enforcement group and city service groups who discover they have inadvertently hired convicted felons and sex offenders.   Or in some cases where fortunes will vary a group will suddenly modify standards and those employees and volunteers who were once acceptable, no longer are.    One case just arose with a Florida Youth Group, a local Police Athletic League where a much appreciated League coach was denied his application for coaching this year because of a long ago pot bust for less than an ounce of marijuana.     Ten other applicants were also denied coaching positions.

According to Tampa Bay Online, the job applicant was well respected by kids and parents.  Another applicant, and assistant coach was denied the job, although he too had been coaching for several years.

Now in cases where background checks are neglected or criminal charges are overlooked and serious criminal violations are later discovered, serious consideration should be given to retaining a hire.   Sex offenders around kids, a big no-no.   Serious felons working as police; this is not too smart.  But in this case the coach had long ago possessed less than ounce of marijuana and now much be penalized for this relatively minor transgression, in spite of his dedication to the kids and the League itself.    Let’s face it, in certain states, including my own, California, less than an ounce of marijuana is not really even a criminal offense.  It has just been signed into law that such position brings the slight penalty of a $100 fine, with no appearance in court.  Considering here in California you pay around $20 for a jaywalking fine, this is really no big deal.

So perhaps in Florida, such severe penalties for dedicated workers and volunteers should be reconsidered.

By Gordon Basichis

Gordon Basichis is the Co-Founder of Corra Group, specializing in pre-employment background checks and corporate research. He has been a marketing and media executive and has worked in the entertainment industry, the financial, health care and technology sectors. He is the author of the best selling Beautiful Bad Girl, The Vicki Morgan Story, a non-fiction novel that helped define exotic sexuality in the late twentieth century. He is the author of the Constant Travellers and has recently completed a new book, The Guys Who Spied for China, dealing with Chinese Espionage in the United States. He has been a journalist for several newspapers and is a screenwriter and producer.