Background Check Company-3 WC Blog 356
Employee Background Checks-3
Be Confident That Your Customer’s Personal Information Is Secure By Using A Background Check Company
I have spent the last week shopping for a new used car (yeah, I can’t afford a real new car so anything I buy is new for me). We went to back and forth between two-dealerships where we have made previous purchases. We started the loan paperwork at one of the two and got great news, we have good credit scores…HOORAY! They think we can afford nearly anything on their lot. Reality says they are crazy, I can’t afford those kinds of payments regardless of what my credit score says. Today we made a decision on a used minivan at the second dealership after doing some research on the vehicle we were interested in. We filled out financing paperwork again, paid a down payment and in a couple days go to pick up the new edition to our family. The process made me start thinking about something. I have provided my personal information to two different people and their co-workers in their respective finance offices. While I have dealt with both of the companies and these two particular salesmen, I really don’t know them nor do I know the office workers. I am taking a HUGE risk giving over my social security number, address, proper name, etc. to strangers. I feel reasonably secure about how the information will be handled but I can’t be completely certain my information won’t be stolen. I would feel better if I knew that the businesses conducted employee background checks on their sales associates and staff.
Employee Background Checks completed by professionals who have the proper research knowledge, contact information and experience with legal issues surrounding pre-employment screening and background checks can help businesses hire the right people. Do you need someone with a finance degree or licensing to work in the financing department of your company? A background check company can validate if your top candidate has the degree or certifications they have indicated they have on their job application. Does someone want to work for you in a position that will require handling confidential information? Perhaps you need to run criminal background checks on those applicants. You don’t want someone working for you that has been convicted of identity fraud or theft. There is a wide range of information a background check company can legally investigate for you that could turn up a hidden past an applicant is trying to keep from you.
The question may arise, “How can my business be held accountable if one of my employees chooses to steal a customer’s credit card information or Social Security Number?” The answer is that as the employer, you are held responsible for the actions of your employees in many circumstances when they harm someone in the course and scope of their employment. According to nolo.com regarding job related accidents or misconduct, “Under a legal doctrine sometimes referred to as “respondeat superior” (Latin for “Let the superior answer”), an employer is legally responsible for the actions of its employees.” If your employee has access to confidential information and they steal that information or use it for illegal activities, you could be potentially held responsible. What can you do to protect your business against the actions of a dishonest employee? Nolo’s website goes on to say, “Make it your business to run a routine background check before you hire an applicant.” This is exactly what a background check company does. It helps weed out bad apples before you bring them on board.
Don’t take your customers’ safety and security for granted. They trust you to protect their privacy and their financial information. You also need to protect your business from theft, fraud and lawsuits due to dishonest employee activity. Employee background checks are your first line of defense and will minimize the chances of security breaches.
Get more information on a background check company. Contact us or call 1.770.426.0547 today.
I have spent the last week shopping for a new used car (yeah, I can’t afford a real new car so anything I buy is new for me). We went to back and forth between two-dealerships where we have made previous purchases. We started the loan paperwork at one of the two and got great news, we have good credit scores…HOORAY! They think we can afford nearly anything on their lot. Reality says they are crazy, I can’t afford those kinds of payments regardless of what my credit score says. Today we made a decision on a used minivan at the second dealership after doing some research on the vehicle we were interested in. We filled out financing paperwork again, paid a down payment and in a couple days go to pick up the new edition to our family. The process made me start thinking about something. I have provided my personal information to two different people and their co-workers in their respective finance offices. While I have dealt with both of the companies and these two particular salesmen, I really don’t know them nor do I know the office workers. I am taking a HUGE risk giving over my social security number, address, proper name, etc. to strangers. I feel reasonably secure about how the information will be handled but I can’t be completely certain my information won’t be stolen. I would feel better if I knew that the businesses conducted employee background checks on their sales associates and staff.
Employee Background Checks completed by professionals who have the proper research knowledge, contact information and experience with legal issues surrounding pre-employment screening and background checks can help businesses hire the right people. Do you need someone with a finance degree or licensing to work in the financing department of your company? A background check company can validate if your top candidate has the degree or certifications they have indicated they have on their job application. Does someone want to work for you in a position that will require handling confidential information? Perhaps you need to run criminal background checks on those applicants. You don’t want someone working for you that has been convicted of identity fraud or theft. There is a wide range of information a background check company can legally investigate for you that could turn up a hidden past an applicant is trying to keep from you.
The question may arise, “How can my business be held accountable if one of my employees chooses to steal a customer’s credit card information or Social Security Number?” The answer is that as the employer, you are held responsible for the actions of your employees in many circumstances when they harm someone in the course and scope of their employment. According to nolo.com regarding job related accidents or misconduct, “Under a legal doctrine sometimes referred to as “respondeat superior” (Latin for “Let the superior answer”), an employer is legally responsible for the actions of its employees.” If your employee has access to confidential information and they steal that information or use it for illegal activities, you could be potentially held responsible. What can you do to protect your business against the actions of a dishonest employee? Nolo’s website goes on to say, “Make it your business to run a routine background check before you hire an applicant.” This is exactly what a background check company does. It helps weed out bad apples before you bring them on board.
Don’t take your customers’ safety and security for granted. They trust you to protect their privacy and their financial information. You also need to protect your business from theft, fraud and lawsuits due to dishonest employee activity. Employee background checks are your first line of defense and will minimize the chances of security breaches.
Get more information on a background check company. Contact us or call 1.770.426.0547 today.
Electronic article surveillance – 5 WC blog 396
Checkpoint Tags -3
Stop Shoplifting-3
What Were You thinking? Questions I Ask Myself About Merchandise Strategies, Theft Prevention And Electronic Article Surveillance
Have you ever had those moments where you’ve seen something and you just had to wonder, “What were they thinking?” I believe most of us have and from a customer and Retail Loss Prevention Manager’s perspective I do this in stores quite a bit. Sometimes it is based on merchandising strategies and sometimes how they intend to stop shoplifting:
• Dump bins – Can someone please explain to me the sales strategy behind these? How does dumping bazillions of dvd’s or videogames into a box and expecting potential customers to dig through to find one gem they really want (at a $3-$5 price point) enhance sales? I’ve tried to dig through these things and after an avalanche of movies crashes down on me as I get near the bottom of the bin I quit.
• Lawn and Garden shops at stores – why do you have a fenced in area and then have merchandise on the outside of the fence? Worse yet, you have your point of sales INSIDE the building, not even a register by the fence exit. I am certain most customers will pick up merchandise and walk it all the way back in to make a purchase but I am just as certain there are people picking up items and walking off with them.
• Why do stores have TEN shelf checkout lanes with one cashier monitoring them all? Four is okay, but inevitably when I am using a self-checkout with more than four it seems the ONE cashier is constantly busy helping with problem checkouts. I get angry having to wait for several minutes for assistance when I was going through the self-checkout to speed up the process not slow down.
• Similar to the outside the fence garden shop merchandise strategy, how about the shoe store sidewalk sale with no one manning the sidewalk? What were you thinking? Yes, those stores have electronic article surveillance towers and nope, they won’t detect Checkpoint tags that are already past the towers.
Are there answers out there to my questions? I know someone in a business has a reason for the decisions, but that does not mean it is necessarily a smart decision. This is especially true for stores that are trying to stop shoplifting by using Electronic Article Surveillance systems.
Electronic Article Surveillance systems use radio frequency (rf) waves emitted from Checkpoint Tags and picked up by Checkpoint towers to protect merchandise from theft. When merchandise is protected with tags and the tagged merchandise is carried within the detection range of the towers there are alarms and lights in the towers that are activated. The noise and lights of the towers draws a response from store employees who then conduct receipt checks and determine the cause of the activation. With the proper training on addressing alarms, employees can recover merchandise and stop shoplifting from taking place.
Additional “What were they thinking?” moments I have had in regard to merchandise protection:
• Why are anti-theft devices used on some music and movies and not used on others? I just don’t get that.
• Anti-theft device wraps used to secure merchandise and the wraps are then secured to pegboard or shelving! Alert to store managers or Loss Prevention Departments, the purpose of the wrap is to allow the customer to walk around the store while the merchandise is still protected. It is also supposed to free up employees from having to unlock showcases. Guess what they have to do with these displays? That’s right…someone has to unlock them.
• No one responds when Electronic Article Surveillance tower alarms activate! Why is no one trained to respond or responsible for making a response a priority? Why bother with a system?
Merchandise protection is called that for a reason, it is meant to protect merchandise. Doing it in a half- hearted manner does not equate to cutting your shortage in half, it simply means it isn’t being taken seriously by thieves and to a certain extent by the store.
While retailers may have good intentions in their merchandise strategies that does not mean they make sense (at least to me). The same is true for merchandise protection and I have very strong feelings on this. Electronic Article Surveillance and Checkpoint Tags can stop shoplifting when employed to its fullest potential in stores. Tag everything, make alarm response a priority and train all employees and you will see profits rise as shortage decreases. End of rants…for now.
Get more information on Electronic Article Surveillance, contact us or call 1.770.426.0547 today.
Have you ever had those moments where you’ve seen something and you just had to wonder, “What were they thinking?” I believe most of us have and from a customer and Retail Loss Prevention Manager’s perspective I do this in stores quite a bit. Sometimes it is based on merchandising strategies and sometimes how they intend to stop shoplifting:
• Dump bins – Can someone please explain to me the sales strategy behind these? How does dumping bazillions of dvd’s or videogames into a box and expecting potential customers to dig through to find one gem they really want (at a $3-$5 price point) enhance sales? I’ve tried to dig through these things and after an avalanche of movies crashes down on me as I get near the bottom of the bin I quit.
• Lawn and Garden shops at stores – why do you have a fenced in area and then have merchandise on the outside of the fence? Worse yet, you have your point of sales INSIDE the building, not even a register by the fence exit. I am certain most customers will pick up merchandise and walk it all the way back in to make a purchase but I am just as certain there are people picking up items and walking off with them.
• Why do stores have TEN shelf checkout lanes with one cashier monitoring them all? Four is okay, but inevitably when I am using a self-checkout with more than four it seems the ONE cashier is constantly busy helping with problem checkouts. I get angry having to wait for several minutes for assistance when I was going through the self-checkout to speed up the process not slow down.
• Similar to the outside the fence garden shop merchandise strategy, how about the shoe store sidewalk sale with no one manning the sidewalk? What were you thinking? Yes, those stores have electronic article surveillance towers and nope, they won’t detect Checkpoint tags that are already past the towers.
Are there answers out there to my questions? I know someone in a business has a reason for the decisions, but that does not mean it is necessarily a smart decision. This is especially true for stores that are trying to stop shoplifting by using Electronic Article Surveillance systems.
Electronic Article Surveillance systems use radio frequency (rf) waves emitted from Checkpoint Tags and picked up by Checkpoint towers to protect merchandise from theft. When merchandise is protected with tags and the tagged merchandise is carried within the detection range of the towers there are alarms and lights in the towers that are activated. The noise and lights of the towers draws a response from store employees who then conduct receipt checks and determine the cause of the activation. With the proper training on addressing alarms, employees can recover merchandise and stop shoplifting from taking place.
Additional “What were they thinking?” moments I have had in regard to merchandise protection:
• Why are anti-theft devices used on some music and movies and not used on others? I just don’t get that.
• Anti-theft device wraps used to secure merchandise and the wraps are then secured to pegboard or shelving! Alert to store managers or Loss Prevention Departments, the purpose of the wrap is to allow the customer to walk around the store while the merchandise is still protected. It is also supposed to free up employees from having to unlock showcases. Guess what they have to do with these displays? That’s right…someone has to unlock them.
• No one responds when Electronic Article Surveillance tower alarms activate! Why is no one trained to respond or responsible for making a response a priority? Why bother with a system?
Merchandise protection is called that for a reason, it is meant to protect merchandise. Doing it in a half- hearted manner does not equate to cutting your shortage in half, it simply means it isn’t being taken seriously by thieves and to a certain extent by the store.
While retailers may have good intentions in their merchandise strategies that does not mean they make sense (at least to me). The same is true for merchandise protection and I have very strong feelings on this. Electronic Article Surveillance and Checkpoint Tags can stop shoplifting when employed to its fullest potential in stores. Tag everything, make alarm response a priority and train all employees and you will see profits rise as shortage decreases. End of rants…for now.
Get more information on Electronic Article Surveillance, contact us or call 1.770.426.0547 today.
i-Pads are getting used more and more these days in hospitals. From patient check-ins to entertainment for children in a doctor’s office to keep them calm new uses for Android tablets and i-pads are being discovered it seems on an almost daily basis. Our family has used i-pads at a “minute clinic” in a drug store for registering and filling out new patient information at a nationally known doctor office chain. But take a moment to think about this, if you have a queasy stomach drop to the next paragraph, if you are in a doctor’s office or you are visiting a “minute clinic” you are probably there because you or someone you are caring for is sick. That means all of those other people that visit there are probably also sick. Vomiting, coughing, dripping noses and creepy little viruses and bugs you can’t even pronounce are most likely waiting for you on the surfaces of whatever those patients touch, including mobile devices. This gives me cause for concern for the hospital on two points. From a security standpoint, many of the mobile devices are not protected to prevent theft. They may have protocols in place to try to prevent hacking but the devices themselves could be stolen along with any private information that may be contained on them. The second issue is the health concerns with shared tablets. I-Pad theft can be controlled by using a Bug Tag on each one and a Checkpoint Classic N10 pedestal at the doors to the building. The health issue is another matter altogether.
The i-Pads and Android tablets hospitals and physician’s offices are employing are being used to register patient’s, share medical information, store issued prescription and other HIPPA protected data. Should any of the information be compromised through data breaches or theft of mobile devices, the owning facility is held responsible. A Bug Tag can be attached to each device and provide electronic article surveillance protection (EAS) to prevent tablet or i-Pad theft. Since the tags have the EAS technology built into them when a tagged device is carried into the area of a door that has a Classic N10 pedestal there, the device will trigger an alarm within the pedestal. This alarm alerts staff that a device is being carried out and the i-Pad or tablet can be recovered saving both the hardware and the potential theft of protected personal information.
In an article in popsci.com, “I is for infection? The role of iPads in Pathogen Spread” by Jason Tetro, November 4, 2014, the writer cites a study in that took place at Northwestern University. “…in the Department of Pharmacy Practice. The group gave all 30 faculty members an iPad for their work. They were not given any instructions on how to care for the tablet nor how to clean it. Six months later the iPads were swabbed and the bacteria cultured.” The results after the cultures were tested found, “The most surprising was the relative lack of interest in cleaning. During the six months, only half the faculty members cleaned their iPads, even once.” It is concerning that in a hospital environment, medical professionals would neglect to consider cleaning an iPad or tablet that they have carried into different treatment rooms.
How difficult would it be for clinics and hospitals to disinfect mobile devices such as medical i-Pads and tablets? The journalofhospitalinfection.com, June 2014, volume 87, issue 2 article abstract, “Disinfecting the iPad: evaluating effective methods”, by V. Howell, A. Thoppil, M. Mariyaselvam, R. Jones, H. Young, S. Sharma, M. Blunt, P. Young, the results of the study found, “With the exception of Clostridium difficile, Sani-Cloth CHG 2% and Clorox wipes were most effective against MRSA and VRE, and they were significantly better than the Apple-Recommended plain cloth…”. In other words, most of the yucky things that can spread illnesses could be taken care of easily with wipes like those now being provided by many stores to wipe down their shopping carts when you walk in.
Take the time to bug AND de-bug your i-Pads and medical tablets. Use the Bug Tag and Classic N10 towers to prevent i-Pad theft and protect equipment and patient information. Use Clorox wipes to get rid of the rest of the bugs you don’t want spread from patient to patient.
Bug Tags are important and we can help you with them. Call 1.770.426.0547 and let’s talk.
