Blog by Danny Davila, Executive Director of GroupOne

It’s interesting how many organizations wish to share their products and advice. The willingness to share on social and virtual media has yet to influence human resource offices to provide expanded employment verification. The practice of “passing the trash” is pervasive in several industries, and was recently brought to national attention by the education system’s lack of oversight on teachers having inappropriate relations with students.

The practice of hiring a candidate is complex, yet most organizations search for faster and streamlined solutions. Fortunately, GroupOne has maintained a strong stance on collecting objective employment information. As is standard, most employers will share an employee’s name, job title and dates of employment. It is our practice to obtain “reason for leaving” to ensure this information can be provided to employers. In addition, we also request the “eligibility for rehire” information.

Most reasons for separation are carefully documented with a thorough review with human resource and legal professionals before the information is distributed. Sharing information that can be interpreted as “adverse” is difficult and is always done with careful consideration. However, an employer must have some level of responsibility to their employees and clients when it comes to hiring a safe workforce.

The term universally recognized in the education industry is “Pass the Trash.” Legislators in Texas, Pennsylvania and Nevada – among others – have produced legislation to increase the use of background checks to reduce the risk to students from teachers with adverse action in their history.

The responsibility of a consumer reporting agency is to report what is provided to verify education, employment, criminal history or licensure verification. GroupOne does not make hiring decisions. It is critical to the hiring process that our clients evaluate as much information as possible regarding candidates before you invest your time and money.