Selection II

1. Selection II MANA 4328 Dennis C. Veit dveit@uta.edu

2. Contingent Assessment Background Checks • References and education • Criminal record and credit check • Investigative agencies • Reliability and Validity Integrity / Honesty Tests Drug Tests • Current vs. previous drug use Medical Exams • Determine if a person can safely perform the job • Significant and specific risk must exists • “Preventing Injury” not the same as “Job Performance”

3. Reference Checking • Also relatively low predictive validity • 80% - 95% of Organizations attempt • 63% of Organizations limit info they will share • Should ask for applicant permission • Legal Concerns • Companies decline to report negative information to protect from defamation suit. • Failure to conduct reference check may create negligent hiring liability.

4. City requires Facebook passwords from job applicants If you’re planning to apply for a job with the city of Bozeman, prepare to clean up your Facebook page. As part of routine background checks, the city asks job applicants to provide their usernames and passwords for their social-networking sites. City Manager Chris Kukulski said the city checks the sites in order to ensure that employees who might be handling taxpayer money, working with children or entering residents’ homes as an emergency services worker are reputable and honest. “It’s just one of the tools, like all the other tools, that we’ve used to do a thorough background check,” Kukulski said. The city also checks credit reports, criminal history, references and past employment, among other things.“We have to do some due diligence,” Kukulski said. “I would guess that they’re on some shaky legal ground with this and we would certainly welcome (the opportunity) to look at something specific from somebody who’s impacted,” ACLU Executive Director Scott Crichton said Thursday. Houston Chronicle June 2009

5. Background Checks • Purposes (1) to verify information and (2) gain additional information relevant to the job • Types: • Education / Employment verification • References • Criminal record • Credit – Fair Credit Reporting Act requires permission • What positions should require background checks and to what degree?

6. U. of Texas Background Checks It is the policy of The University of Texas at Arlington to obtain: a.    Criminal history record information on an applicant who is the finalist for a position designated by System Administration or a component institution as security-sensitive position. b.    Criminal conviction record information available to the public on an applicant who is the finalist for a position that is not so designated as security-sensitive. As of 09-17-2002 this policy does not apply to current or prospective employees with faculty titles.

7. Security Sensitive Positions • All senior level administrator positions including all executive officers and System administrative officials. • Positions that have responsibility for providing patient care or for providing child-care in a child-care facility, as that term is defined in Texas Human Resources Code § 42.002(3), as it may be amended from time to time. • Positions that have direct access to, or responsibility for, pharmaceuticals, select agents, or controlled substances.

8. U. of Texas Background Checks “Many are worried that these checks will hamper efforts to attract the most qualified employees.” UTA Shorthorn 9/18/02 “What kind of statement are we making when we, at UT System, require these checks when other schools in the state don’t have the same policy,” University Provost George Wright. Currently, the university pays a flat monthly rate of $450 to have the checks conducted.

9. Potential Problems FW Star-Telegram 2.12.04 • ARLINGTON - A University of Texas a Arlington official voiced regrets that a part-time lecturer's background was not checked after he talked about his personal life in class and alarmed students….Ronnie Robert Molina was fired after his first lecture on communications law. In August, Molina was fired as an attorney for Dallas for inappropriate behavior. Shorthorn 1.28.04 • Several students in the class said Molina spent the first day discussing a range of personal topics and that many in the class were appalled and disturbed….After arriving 25 minutes late, Molina started a monologue about religious values, sexual orientation and drug use…Students said Molina wrote the initials of the attorney that he previously worked for and distinguished his initials D.L., as devil and Lucifer.

10. “Qualified Privilege” Aimed at protecting companies that provide “good faith” reference information • Information must be given without malicious intent • Information can be substantiated • Information given is limited to specific inquiry • Information must be given at proper time, through proper channels, with proper methods. Is the employee eligible for rehire?

11. Decision Criteria The hiring official will determine on a case-by-case basis whether the individual is qualified based on factors such as: • Specific duties of the position; • Number of offenses; • Nature of each offense; • Length of time intervening between the offense and the employment decision; • Employment history; • Efforts at rehabilitation; and • Accuracy of the information that the individual provided on the employment application

12. Grand Prairie says it Goofed in Hiring Sex Offender When Damon Otto Bryan filled out a job application for the Grand Prairie parks department, he acknowledged a conviction for aggravated assault. But he left out a key word: His conviction was for aggravated sexual assault. State records show Bryan was convicted of sexually assaulting a 12-year-old girl in Ellis County when he was 18. His $12-an-hour city job, he explained, consisted of mowing, cleaning and picking up trash in the medians along Grand Prairie streets. "I never came in contact with people other than my co-workers.” When they tried to conduct a background check, a computerized database never completed it, and nobody followed up. And when they interviewed Bryan, they didn't ask about his conviction. Both mistakes will never happen again, promised Fred Ginapp, the city's human resources adviser. Star-Telegram 7.12.06

13. Integrity / Honesty Tests Two Types: • In-direct testing: Personality-based tests • Overt testing: Questions on ethical situations or attitudes towards theft / unlawful activities. • Reliability and Validity depends on test • Can predict bad behavior in certain cases • Subject to manipulation • Polygraph testing?

14. Drug Testing • Required for only certain jobs • Federal employees • DOT regulated jobs (trucking, airlines, etc) • Drug Free Workplace Act of 1988 • Requires all employers with federal contracts of $25k to engage in drug testing • Current estimates • 50% of companies test current employees • 61% of companies test applicants • 25 million people tested every year

15. Drug Testing • Urinalysis most common means and least expensive • ADA prohibits pre-employment screening for alcohol • Policies applied carefully and consistently • Companies may not selectively test based on “appearance” • Have a written policy in place • Written consent needed • Screening test vs. confirmation • Costs • $15 to $100 per test • Time away from work • Administrative time

16. Negligent Hiring • The person causing harm was an employee. • The person was incompetent (rather than a competent employee acting negligently). • Employer knew or should have known about the incompetence. • Injury or harm was a foreseeable consequence of hiring the incompetent employee. • Hiring of the unfit employee was proximate cause of the injury or harm.