Thanks, Chris. It should be clear now why I'm not an
attorney.
Do you think the Red Cross is trying to pull a fast one, or do you think
they (and perhaps their background check partner) not understand the
legal definition of the terms they are using? I'm suspicious of the
competence and experience of their background check partner for two
reasons: 1) They're located in a sparsely populated area of
Northern California (near Lake Shasta); 2) My employer is a major
provider of employer services (HR, payroll, benefits, etc.) and we have
several partners that do pre-employment screening. None of us had
heard of mybackgroundcheck.com before their contract with the ARC, so
they are hardly a major player.
-- Andy Oppel, N6AJO
At 08:18 AM 3/22/2007, w3kd@aol.com wrote:
Andy, that is not correct. I met
with the Red Cross Office of the General Counsel in Washington and with
some Disaster Services management personnel, and expressed our concerns
about the consent form. The consent form was indeed modified to delete
specific references to credit checks and mode of living checks. However,
the consent form continues to authorize, and in fact says that the Red
Cross WILL PROCURE "consumer reports" and "investigative
consumer reports." These terms have Federal and administrative
statutory and regulatory definitions. The definitions include credit
worthiness, credit standing, credit capacity, character, general
reputation, personal characteristics, or mode of living.
So on the one hand, the Red Cross has stated that it will not conduct
these checks, and then required that those who volunteer for Red Cross
work (including ARES volunteers and other Amateur Radio operators even if
they are not registered Red Cross volunteers) for more than 7 days submit
to the background check and sign the consent form that says that the Red
Cross WILL do credit and mode of living checks.
They will not agree to exempt amateur radio operators and they will not
agree to modify the consent form.
This information is current as of March 20, 2007. The required background
check policy kicks in March 31.
73, Chris W3KD
-----Original Message-----
From: andy@andyoppel.com
To: arrl-odv@reflector.arrl.org
Sent: Wed, 21 Mar 2007 10:09 PM
Subject: [arrl-odv:15304] ARC Background Checks
It looks like the American Red Cross has resolved the issues that most
people had with their background check policy. I received a post
card today announcing the change and urging me to complete a background
check before their March 31st deadline. Here is their explanation
of what they have changed (and looking at the web site, it seems an
accurate description to me):
"Concerns from Chapters across the nation were heard and a new
consent form has been developed that eliminates all references to credit
checks and mode of living. California law, however, requires that
we notify you of your right to receive a copy of the information we
obtain. This is not an authorization for a credit check. If a
volunteer position requires a credit check, the volunteer will receive a
separate consent form. Mode of living checks will not be conducted
under any circumstances."
73,
Andy Oppel, N6AJO
Vice Director, Pacific Division
American Radio Relay League (ARRL)
The National Association for Amateur Radio
n6ajo@arrl.org
home: (510) 864-2299
cell: (510) 851-6214
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Andy Oppel
andy@andyoppel.com
andy_oppel@alamedanet.net