Employment Screening Resources (ESR) Achieves Background Screening Credentialing Council (BSCC) Accreditation

MORRISVILLE, NC & NOVATO, CA, MONDAY, OCTOBER 11, 2010 – The National Association of Professional Background Screeners (NAPBS®) Background Screening Credentialing Council (BSCC) announced today that Employment Screening Resources (ESR) has successfully proved compliance with the Background Screening Agency Accreditation Program (BSAAP) and will now be formally recognized as BSCC Accredited.

“Employment Screening Resources is gratified that the National Association of Professional Background Screeners announced that we achieved BSCC Accreditation,” stated ESR President Lester Rosen, who founded the San Francisco area background screening company in 1996 with the purpose of promoting a safe workplace for both employers and employees. “Working to achieve accreditation was a total team effort and the process itself was a rewarding experience,” added Rosen, an attorney at law and author of ‘The Safe Hiring Manual – The Complete Guide to Keeping Criminals, Terrorists, and Imposters Out of Your Workplace,’ one of the first comprehensive guides for employment screening.

Each year, U.S. employers, organizations, and governmental agencies request millions of consumer reports to assist with critical business decisions involving background screening. Background screening reports, which are categorized as consumer reports, are currently regulated at both the federal and state level. Since its inception, NAPBS has believed that there is a strong need for a singular cohesive industry standard and therefore created the BSAAP. Governed by a strict professional standard composed of requirements and measurements, the BSAAP is positioned to become a widely recognized seal of approval that brings national recognition to background screening organizations (also referred to as Consumer Reporting Agencies). This recognition will stand as the industry “seal” representing a background screening organization’s commitment to excellence, accountability, high professional standards, and continued institutional improvement.

“The BSAAP is the industry’s primary vehicle for quality assurance, self-regulation, and public accountability,” said Tracy Seabrook, CAE, executive director of NAPBS. “Developed and sustained by background screening professionals, the BSAAP reflects, reinforces, and promotes best practices, institutional ethics, and the highest standards of background screening operations.”

The NAPBS Background Screening Credentialing Council (BSCC) oversees the application process and is the governing accreditation body that will ensure the background screening organizations seeking accreditation meet or exceed a measurable standard of competence. To become accredited, consumer reporting agencies must pass a rigorous onsite audit, conducted by an independent auditing firm, of its policies and procedures as they relate to six critical areas:

• Consumer protection,
• Legal compliance,
• Client education,
• Product standards,
• Service standards, and
• General business practices.

Any U.S.-based employment screening organization is eligible to apply for accreditation. A copy of the standard, the policies and procedures, and measurements is available at http://www.napbs.com/. 

About NAPBS®
Founded in 2003 as a non-profit trade association, the National Association of Professional Background Screeners (NAPBS) represents the interests of more than 700 member companies around the world that offer tenant, employment, and background screening. NAPBS provides relevant programs and training aimed at empowering members to better serve clients and maintain standards of excellence in the background screening industry, and presents a unified voice in the development of national, state and local regulations. For more information, visit http://www.napbs.com/. 

About Employment Screening Resources (ESR)
Founded in 1996 in the San Francisco area, Employment Screening Resources (ESR) literally wrote the book on background checks with ‘The Safe Hiring Manual’ by ESR founder and President Lester Rosen. ESR is a leading provider of information, education, and training on “all things background checks” and is dedicated to promoting a safe workplace for both employers and employees. ESR was rated the top U.S. employment screening firm in the first independent study of the industry. The National Association of Professional Background Screeners (NAPBS®) Background Screening Credentialing Council (BSCC) formally recognizes Employment Screening Resources as BSCC Accredited by successfully proving compliance with the Background Screening Agency Accreditation Program (BSAAP). For more information, please visit http://www.ESRcheck.com or contact Jared Callahan, Director of Client Services, at 415.898.0044 or jcallahan@ESRcheck.com.