Background Check Consumer Protection Group Grows to 200 Firms
Fort Worth, Texas (PRWEB) November 07, 2013 -- Consumer protection watchdog group Concerned CRAs has accepted its 200th participating employment background screening company.
Started in 2008, Concerned CRAs focuses on educating background screening companies (consumer reporting agencies - CRAs), employers, and the public about consumer protection best practices.
Participating screening firms certify that their practices conform to Concerned CRAs’ guidelines with respect to the responsible use of criminal history information and avoiding transmission of consumers’ personal information outside of the US. They also educate their clients on the importance of these practices.
“We constantly get calls from employment applicants wanting to know why another company reported criminal information that was not really them. We virtually always find it was reported through a check of an ‘instant’ criminal database and the Consumer Reporting Agency skipped the procedures to go to the source and properly verify the records. This puts the applicant‘s job prospects at risk since by the time the applicant has researched the record to prove it was not them, the job may have already gone to another applicant. Sloppy research and cutting corners by screening firms who look for profits over accuracy is the reason ConcernedCRA’s was started,” said Larry Lambeth, president of Employment Screening Services.
Concerned CRAs (consumer reporting agencies, the technical term for background screening companies) was formed in 2008 by Employment Screening Services, Imperative Information Group, and Employment Screening Resources (ESR).
“We started Concerned CRAs to highlight the fact that there are a lot of good employment screening companies that follow best practices,” said Mike Coffey, SPHR, president of Imperative Information Group. “As we’ve grown, we’ve had the opportunity to educate the media and educators about the root causes of inaccurate background checks. We’ve also helped background screening firms adopt best practices. I’m gratified that we have become the voice of consumer best practices in the employment background check area.”
Mike Coffey, SPHR, Imperative Information Group, http://www.imperativeinfo.com, +1 817-921-5286, [email protected]
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