Background Investigations

Tuesday, April 10, 2007  

Guest Speakers: Joanmarie M. Dowling and Michelle Pyan

Background Investigations are an invaluable tool for bringing added confidence to the recruiting process and ultimately greater success to your organization. Employment Background Investigations provide a means for human resource professionals to enhance the quality of new hires, decrease turnover and provide a safe work environment mitigating both risk and liability.

This session will be valuable to for-profit and non-profit businesses and their Business Owners, Human Resource Professionals, Security Professionals, Loss Prevention Professionals, Risk Managers, Information Technology Professionals and Chief Financial Officers. Background Investigations discourage applicants with something to hide. They encourage open communications and honesty, eliminate uncertainty by basing decisions on hard information, demonstrate due diligence, promote workplace safety, reduce legal exposure for negligent hiring claims and provide an excellent return on investment (generally costs < 1 day on the job).

The session will cover: Federal and State Laws Applicable to Background Investigations -- Federal Fair Credit Reporting Act, New York State Fair Credit Reporting Act, Federal and state discrimination law, New York State Corrections Law and Driver’s Privacy Protection Act.

Available information, best practices, policy development, procedures and what to look for in a Background Investigations Partner will be discussed.

Joanmarie M. Dowling is an attorney with Bond, Schoeneck & King, PLLC and concentrates her practice in labor and employment law. Joanmarie is a graduate of the Univ. of Alabama (B.S.W., Social Work, magna cum laude, 1997) and Albany Law School of Union Univ. J.D., summa cum laude, 2002). She completed two externships with Hon. Lawrence J. Kahn, U.S. District Court Judge for the Northern District of New York. She is a member of the Justinian Honorary Law Society. Michelle Pyan is the majority owner of COMMERCIAL INVESTIGATIONS LLC (CI), a private investigative agency.

Michelle has over ten years of licensed private investigative experience in the states of Wisconsin and New York. She also has over eight years of human resources experience. She has an MBA from the Univ. of Wisconsin and a BS from Winona State Univ. majoring in Paralegal Studies / Pre-law.

 (Snow Date:  Wednesday, April 11, 2007)