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Louisiana RS 40:1203.1 et seq mandates that most employers ofNon-licensed Healthcare Personnel and Licensed Ambulance Personnelconduct Criminal Record Searches and National Sex Offender Searches. These searches must be conducted by the Louisiana State Police or an Authorized Agency of the State Police that is also approved by the Department of Health and Hospitals.

Southern Research is approved to conduct these types of searches. Southern Research is an authorized background screening agency that can save you time and money by finding the right employees for your open positions.

Southern Research has provided employee, tenancy and volunteer background screenings across a variety of industries for more than 50 years. Our highly trained staff conduct accurate, thorough, timely and cost-effective Criminal and Civil Record searches in over 3,100 parishes, counties, census areas, independent cities and the United States District Court System to ensure that businesses have detailed information on each potential employee.

• National Association of Professional Background Screeners accredited
• Member of Public Records Research Network
• One of the largest providers in Louisiana
• Entire Staff is FCRA-certified

Southern Research provides businesses with consumer and investigative consumer reports for potential new hires.

Our search categories include:
  
• Criminal Records: local, nationwide
• Louisiana Statewide Criminal Records
• Civil Records
• Social Security Trace
• National Sex Offender Registry
• Official Driving Records
• Education/Professional Credential Verification
• Past Employment Verification
• Bankruptcy Records
• Personal or Professional Reference Interview
• Louisiana Workers’ Compensation Claims
• Medicare/Medicaid Fraud or Abuse
• Liens/Judgments
• Evictions
• Global All Points Security Alerts
• International Searches

SAVE TIME & MONEY! 
A detailed background check is an effective tool to save your business time and money during the hiring process. Let us help you find the right fit for your company.

Your company has job vacancies to fill. You’re also thinking about promoting some employees from within the company. You’ve winnowed down the stack of applications and resumes and want to run background checks through a third party company who is in the business of compiling background information.

Employment background checks also are known as consumer reports. They can include information from a variety of sources, including credit reports and criminal records.

When you use consumer reports to make employment decisions, including hiring, retention, promotion or reassignment, you must comply with the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA).The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) enforces the FCRA.

Complying with the FCRA

You must take certain steps before you can get a consumer report, and before and after you take an adverse action based on that report.

Before You Get a Consumer Report

You must:

Tell the applicant or employee that you might use information in their consumer report for decisions related to their employment. This notice must be in writing and in a stand-alone format. The notice cannot be in an employment application. You can include some minor additional information in the notice, like a brief description of the nature of consumer reports, but only if it does not confuse or detract from the notice.

Get written permission from the applicant or employee. This can be part of the document you use to notify the person that you will get a consumer report. If you want the authorization to allow you to get consumer reports throughout the person’s employment, make sure you say so clearly and conspicuously.

Certify compliance to the company from which you are getting the applicant or employee’s information. You must certify that you:

• notified the applicant or employee and got their permission to get a consumer report;
• complied with all of the FCRA requirements; and
• will not discriminate against the applicant or employee or otherwise misuse the information, as provided by any applicable federal or state equal opportunity laws or regulations.

It’s a good idea to review applicable laws of your state related to consumer reports. Some states restrict the use of consumer reports – usually credit reports – for employment purposes.

Before You Take an Adverse Action

Before you reject a job application, reassign or terminate an employee, deny a promotion, or take any other adverse employment action based on information in a consumer report, you must give the applicant or employee:

• a notice that includes a copy of the consumer report you relied on to make your decision; and
• a copy of A Summary of Your Rights Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, which the company that gave you the report should have given to you.

Giving the person the notice in advance gives the person the opportunity to review the report and tell you if it is correct.

After You Take an Adverse Action

If you take an adverse action based on information in a consumer report, you must give the applicant or employee a notice of that fact – orally, in writing, or electronically.

An adverse action notice tells people about their rights to see information being reported about them and to correct inaccurate information. The notice must include:

• the name, address, and phone number of the consumer reporting company that supplied the report;
• a statement that the company that supplied the report did not make the decision to take the unfavorable action and can’t give specific reasons for it; and
• a notice of the person’s right to dispute the accuracy or completeness of any information the consumer reporting company furnished, and to get an additional free report from the company if the person asks for it within 60 days.

 Investigative Reports

Employers who use “investigative reports” – reports based on personal interviews concerning a person’s character, general reputation, personal characteristics, and lifestyle – have additional obligations under the FCRA. These obligations include giving written notice that you may request or have requested an investigative consumer report, and giving a statement that the person has a right to request additional disclosures and a summary of the scope and substance of the report. (See 15 U.S.C. section 1681d(a), (b)).

Disposing of Consumer Reports

When you’re done using a consumer report, you must securely dispose of the report and any information you gathered from it. That can include burning, pulverizing, or shredding paper documents and disposing of electronic information so that it can’t be read or reconstructed.

Click HERE for More Information

Background investigations are conducted by using information that has been provided by the applicant. This can leave the investigation open to errors because of the possible inaccuracy of said information. However, vulnerability can be mitigated when one easy, yet necessary step is taken. Running a Social Security Trace.

A Social Security Trace is a database search that is a compilation of virtually every geographical location in which a specific social security number appears. Additionally, it can reveal other names that might be tied to that social security number. Upon reviewing the results of a social trace one can decide whether or not it might be necessary to broaden the subject’s investigation. The Social Security Trace is a fast, inexpensive and effective tool that can help facilitate better business decisions.

State representatives cheered as a bid to block state employers from asking about job applicants’ criminal histories before interviews cleared the Louisiana House.

Rep. C. Denise Marcelle, D-Baton Rouge, said her “ban the box” proposal is a bipartisan push aimed at employing former inmates, reducing recidivism and reforming the state’s criminal justice system. The proposal applies to the state’s politically appointed “unclassified” employees and not rank-and-file “classified” state workers subject to Louisiana’s civil service system.

The House voted 53-39 for the proposal, the minimum support needed for passage. The measure moves next to the Senate.

The proposal has gained traction among a number of interest groups across the political spectrum, including the Pelican Institute, ACLU of Louisiana and the Louisiana Family Forum. More than 20 states have adopted the hiring practice, and the U.S. Justice Action Network, a bipartisan organization working to reform the criminal justice system, points to Georgia, Oklahoma and Ohio as areas with similar laws.

Rep. Julie Emerson, R-Carencro, said she co-authored the bill with Marcelle to fight the stigma created by the box on job applications. She stressed the proposal, only affected state workers and was “in no way trying to put any mandates on private business,” which lawmakers previously expressed as a concern.

“We just want to get them to the interview process,” Emerson said.

Similar hiring practices may eventually extend to state classified employees if Marcelle’s proposal reaches final passage.

Byron P. Decoteau, Louisiana civil service director, said during a hearing on the bill that if it becomes law, civil services would most likely develop and vote on similar guidelines for hiring classified employees. As of April 15, the state employed 39,913 classified employees and 31,759 unclassified.

Rep. Patrick Connick, R-Marrero, questioned whether knowing less about applicants’ criminal backgrounds would help them, despite their employment classification. Instead, he said, the measure may expose applicants and employers to risks by allowing each to forego duties to ask important hiring questions.

“By not disclosing (former crimes) in the beginning, I don’t know if that gets you anything further,” he said.

But supporters argued against Connick’s point, saying nothing in the proposal would remove an employer’s ability to ask about criminal histories during job interviews or prevent them from seeking background checks. The proposal also would not apply to positions in law enforcement, corrections or other areas that legally require criminal background checks.

Ultimately, Rep. Rick Edmonds, R-Baton Rouge, said Louisiana is “at a point of no return,” and, while the bill may not be perfect, he asked lawmakers to think in “commonsense terms.” He argued communities will be made safer by helping former convicts establish gainful employment instead of prompting them to “go right back to where they came from.”

Marcelle agreed, saying the proposal will help establish “equal footing” by having employers vet applicants based on applicable skills and interview conversations, instead of a checkmark.

“This by no way means they would get the job,” Marcelle said.

Due to circumstances beyond our control, research results will be delayed at the following locations:

Locations for Criminal Requests

California

Contra Costa: Clerk Search Only – Turnaround time up to two weeks

Los Angeles Courts Turnaround time

No Record: 24 – 48 hours

Record Found: up to two weeks (Clerk Assistance now required for pulling records)

San Joaquin County – The courts are implementing a new system, which will launch in October, and are currently experiencing delays due to transferring of information from the old system to the new system. There is also a shortage of clerks causing even more delays.

Mississippi

Harrison County: Clerk Assistance Now Required – Turnaround time up to 10 days

Locations for Driving Record Requests

Alaska MVR Request: Turnaround time – 7 days (State specific authorization release form required)

Pennsylvania MVR Request: Turnaround time – 14 days (State specific authorization release form required)Go back | Show other stories | Send this page to a friend