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Is your employee background screening process illegal?
by Eric Pritchard - Tuesday May 8, 2012
If you use criminal background checks in your hiring decisions, you’re in the majority – 92 percent of employers subject job candidates to criminal backgrounds investigations. And usually for good reasons; to combat theft and fraud, address concerns about workplace violence, and meet state and local laws, like licensing requirements or those requiring background checks for particular positions. Whether you can make personnel decisions based on a criminal record often presents a complicated legal issue that implicates state and federal law. A new set of guidelines issued by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) indicates that an employer’s good reason to employ criminal background checks may not be enough. If you have... -
Acquisitions market to gain strength in 2012
by Eric J. Pritchard - Friday February 17, 2012
The security industry has a number of well-attended conferences that focus on mergers and acquisitions. I recently attended such a conference at the Breakers, a magnificent property located in Palm Beach, Fla. It’s my 11 th conference and I look forward to going each year. One of the highlights is a presentation by Mike Barnes, a St. Louis-based investment banker who focuses on the industry. Mike’s presentation took the better part of two hours. He and his team collect data regarding deals done in the industry each year and provide an annual report of sorts. Among other things, Mike confirmed for me what I pretty much suspected: 2011 was a slow year for acquisitions in the industry. Deals were few and far between... -
Fire Detection Tips
by Eric J. Pritchard - Tuesday May 10, 2011This is my first blog posting ever. For those of you who don't know me, I am a lawyer specializing in the electronic security and life safety industries. You can check me out on my law firm's web page . My practice is devoted to representing electronic security and life safety providers coast-to-coast. Since I started out as an industry lawyer defending an alarm company in a multiple fatality residential fire claim (a mother and her children) and because the case had such an impact on me, I thought I'd first blog about fire detection. The case I worked on was tragic. I was the junior associate (the name given to lawyers working in a law firm that have not yet made partner) doing research and writing in support of a senior...
