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ArticlesSee: International Verifications Present Unique Risks See: The Top Ten Reasons why a background screening firm should not use home operators. Synopsis: Not only does the use of at-home workers for verifications expose a screening firm to liability for issues surrounding privacy, security and FCRA compliance, but attempting to avoid having them on payroll in order to save money is a game of Russian Roulette. Simply put, the advantages enjoyed by a business in classifying a worker as an independent contractor are disadvantages for the Internal Revenue Services (IRS) and state agencies that administer tax collection programs. The IRS has an interest in businesses putting workers on payroll to better ensure the collection and withholding of payroll taxes. States want employers to pay workers’ compensation premiums and unemployment insurance. As a result, the IRS and the states have a big stake in ensuring that businesses do not misclassify a worker as an “independent contractor” when in fact they should be on payroll. See: Mommygate—The Potential Ethical and Economic Fallout from Using Home Workers to Conduct Verifications. Synopsis: It is difficult to believe, but even as the information and screening industry is under intense public and Congressional scrutiny for failure to protect confidential and personal consumer data, there are still screening firms that routinely send consumer data to at-home workers to perform employment and education verifications. These home workers are generally unregulated and unsupervised and have complete access to private consumer data in a completely unsecured environment. Screening firms that utilize at-home operators to save money must ask themselves some questions to determine if it is really worth the perceived cost savings to risk their reputation, lawsuits and other fall-outs from using unregulated home workers. |
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