Service Which Verifies Employment Of Security Guards Expanding

You may not need to verify the employment history of a salesperson or a cashier. But an employer who fails to adequately check the "bona fides" of security guards could face a charge of negligent hiring in the event the guard is involved in a tort while employed. Happily, efficient, low cost data bank services make part of the vetting task easier.

The oldest specialist firm is Guardscreen, a network database on security officers reported here in the past (10/15/93). The New Jersey based service bureau has established a new Website and is expanding services, says president Fern Abbott.

But for such services to serve the industry well, the database must accumulate a broad range of clients. Mark Sheratsky, VP Special Projects at Command Security, says "Until more employers participate in this program, we cannot benefit fully."

A growing file. Currently, Guardscreen holds 100,000 records, mostly in New Jersey. But Abbott says that files are being added from Maryland, New York, and eastern Pennsylvania. Abbott hopes to double the file by the end of year. Despite the fact that the file universe is not as large as employers would like, it has benefited many security guard employers in the past. Sheratsky says Guardscreen has helped eliminate applicants terminated for poor attendance at former jobs, saving costs of processing fees, training and uniforms. "Guardscreen has saved me at least 20% in my hiring costs," says Earl Holmes, director of operations for EIP. He says that the service helped eliminate 15 candidates because they falsified job applications by omitting previous employments.

Supplementing state records. Checking applicants' criminal records can be time consuming. And at the end of the process, one still cannot be sure that all files have been screened. State criminal records checks may be too limited for a migrant society. A crime might have occurred elsewhere and not reflected in local records.

The service, though providing only employment-related data, can respond rapidly to its customers. "Guardscreen can cross state lines, and no municipality can do that," says Abbott.