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| General Information Services: Background Noise |
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| Written by John Zorabedian | ||
| Monday, 31 March 2008 19:00 | ||
 After the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, the background check industry has had greater access to US government data. And beginning last August, the US government is requiring federal contractors to verify the Social Security numbers and immigration status of potential employees as a way to prevent those companies from hiring illegal immigrants. Although many industries have chafed at the threat of heavy fines for employing illegal workers, the increased government pressure on employers has been a boon for GIS. “We’ve seen a steady stream of employers who have never done background checks now doing background checks,” said Albert Bueno, GIS president. Many companies are also looking to protect their assets from the threat of employee theft, workplace violence, and negligent hiring lawsuits, all of which can be reduced through careful background checks, including investigations into criminal records and credit history, and verification of professional credentials, references, and employment histories. And as many companies change their employment philosophies, increasingly hiring part-time, seasonal, or contract workers, they have sought to outsource background checks to companies like GIS—one of the first in the nation when it was founded in 1966 as part of the insurance information bureau Hooper Holmes. Since 1996, when GIS was spun off in its current form, the company has grown to annual revenues of approximately $75 million, with 450 employees in Chapin, SC and Dallas, Texas. Its clients include telecom giants Comcast and Time Warner Cable, as well as the US Postal Service, and it conducts background checks on thousands of applicants every month. “We are a diversified company that understands the regulated industries,” Bueno said. “That’s why we’re one of the fastest-growing companies in the security industry.” In the retail sector, where loss prevention is an industry imperative, University of Florida researcher Richard Hollinger found in 2005 that the average incident of employee theft cost retailers more than $1,032. Across the industry, employee theft cost $19 billion out of total industry shrinkage of more than $40 billion annually. GIS created a retail theft database in 2005, in a partnership with retailers known as the National Retail Mutual Association, with more than 100 members. The member companies share information on employees who have admitted to stealing, and GIS maintains names in the database for seven years. The company’s largest and most profitable product over the last three years has been its national criminal database, KwikScreen, which includes more than 300 million criminal records, sex offender registries in all 50 states, and 27 government databases, including the federal terrorist watch list. Another of GIS’s major products provides an internally developed Web tool, called Pangea People Management, which handles the complete hiring process, from gathering resumes and online applications to assessment testing, drug testing, background checks, employment and education verification, and completing tax forms. “We’ve put our arms around the entire process, from taking an application to making that person an employee,” Bueno said. Identity checks Due to a wealth of available personal data and the possibility of mistaken identity, the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) and the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act of 2003, an amendment to the FCRA, require reporting agencies such as GIS make their reports available to their subjects and provide opportunities for those applicants to contest information in their reports. If GSI provides adverse information back to an employer, the FCRA gives the applicant time to dispute the information. In the case of a mistaken identity, such as an applicant with the same name and date of birth as a convicted felon, GSI is required to conduct an additional investigation to verify the report’s accuracy. “For the majority of our clients, we go to the courthouse to find the information,” Bueno said. “I’ve always felt it’s GIS’s responsibility, and we take the extra steps to ensure we’re as accurate as possible. I’ve told our employees that it’s our job to find people jobs. We want to put the good people to work.” Mistaken identities are increasingly common, Bueno said, particularly because the US judicial system does not use Social Security numbers as identifiers. Many fathers and sons with the same name are the source of potential mistakes, as are common names such as John Smith. “It can be very challenging, but, in general, it’s not common,” Bueno said. “We do a very detailed research to validate that applicant’s information.” The focus on veracity and new technologies has kept GIS growing and independent at a time when the industry is consolidating, Bueno said. The company’s growth is driven through adding customers, rather than through acquisitions or price increases. “We’re not a cookie cutter, doing the same thing for everyone,” he said. “It’s our flexibility and ability to meet our clients’ needs.” In response to the US government’s new work eligibility requirement announced last August, GIS has rolled out a product called Comply-9, which validates an applicant’s Social Security number and immigration status standing. “We took advantage of that,” Bueno said. “We knew it was coming down the road and built a platform to an instant, paperless product.” |