February employment: U.S. adds 242,000 jobs

The Employment Situation’ news release from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the U.S. economy added 242,000 jobs in February while the unemployment rate and unemployed persons was unchanged at 4.9 percent and 7.8 million respectively. The BLS report revealed that the unemployment rate was down by 0.6 percentage point, and the number of unemployed persons…

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USCIS optimizes E-Verify for mobile devices

enhancements to make its website and online products easier to use on mobile devices. Visitors will find uscis.gov and the Spanish site uscis.gov/es easier to read and use because the content now automatically adjusts to fit the screen of a smartphone, tablet, laptop or desktop computer. “As technology progresses, digital platforms can no longer take…

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Philadelphia expands their 'ban the box' program

How many employees qualify a company as a private employer Deferring any criminal inquiries until after a conditional offer has been extended Requiring that no employer has a policy of automatically excluding any applicant with a criminal conviction from a job Requiring that a city agency or private employer considers, for employment purposes, a prospective…

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Thinking about employment pre-screening? Here are the typers of checks to consider.

Employment pre-screening, while not at the forefront of the political debates, is becoming more and more important for small business owners. It’s more important than ever to ensure you’re aware of EEOC, FCRA and Federal and State Requirements, and performing the right employment pre-screening for your business. There are various points in the hiring process…

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What is the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA)?

Use of information An individual has the right to know how his or her information is used. Specifically, if any type of consumer report is used to deny credit or employment, a copy of the report needs to be given to the applicant. Contents of the file An individual has the right to know what…

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FTC files charges against alleged High School Diploma Mills

diploma mills charging between $135 to $349 for a certificate that is, essentially, worthless. The Commission files a complaint when it has “reason to believe” that the law has been or is being violated and it appears to the Commission that a proceeding is in the public interest. The cases are decided by the court.…

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Assessing your background screening program? Keep these key practices in mind.

background screening programs, here are a few key practices to keep in mind: Involving all stakeholders from the start Changes to your screening program will impact everyone, so it’s important to be inclusive in your assessment. You don’t need to involve every stakeholder, every step of the way, but representatives from human resources, legal / compliance,…

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How to verify a job applicant's employment history

2014 Harris Poll study showed that: 55% of job applicants exaggerated their past job responsibility 42% of job applicants altered their dates of employment 34% of job applicants gave false job titles [caption id="attachment_5042" align="alignleft" width="300"] Source: HireRight 2015 HireRight Employment Screening Benchmarking Report[/caption] Similarly, 86% of respondents to the 2015 HireRight Benchmarking Report indicated that…

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January 2016 employment: unemployment drops to 4.9%

‘The Employment Situation’ news release from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the U.S. economy added 151,000 jobs in January while the unemployment rate dropped to 4.9 percent and the number of unemployed people fell to 7.8 million. The BLS report found that over the past 12 months, the unemployment rate and the number of unemployed…

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