• ESR to reach out to the candidate for documents proving education/employment history.
• ESR to close the affected screenings.

• Pennsylvania Manual MVR's

Due to closures at the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, manual online services are unavailable for at least the next two weeks.

COVID-19 continues to impact all of us in many ways. Your well-being and those you care about are among our primary concerns, as is the effectiveness of your recruiting and hiring processes, and the background checks you rely upon to vet your new hires.

An impediment to providing you with the comprehensive background checks you have come to rely upon is the lack of access to court records where COVID-19 driven court closures have taken place, and which may continue to increase to some extent. Many jurisdictions are now in the second month of limited or no access to public records. The longer these records are unavailable, the uncertainty and accompanying anxiety as to when a background check will complete understandably steadily increases.

ESR is receiving numerous ad hoc requests to complete searches where courts have closed through alternate methods suggested by clients or the subjects of background checks based on their independent research. We appreciate this research is intended to speed up the completion of a background check to fill the position and for the applicant to begin working. In some of these circumstances, this independent research can help ESR to get a search completed, and we will act upon it, but, in many cases, it does not, or it proves to be non-compliant. Whether the suggested research method turns out to be compliant or not, we will gladly research these requests and other suitable alternatives.

• Most "closed" courts are truly closed, offering no other method for requesting public records requests. Some courts with reduced or limited hours provide some access to public records, though there is no reliability as to how many requests they will fulfill or how quickly they will do so. The exception to both of these cases is in states with unified court systems that allow online access to county-level records.
• Someone calling a closed court to see if there is another way to get records may find that someone answered who was working in that court at the time of the call. That person may have been working full time or may have only been working at the time the call came in. The person reached may have provided information possibly useful to completing a search request, such as contact method, hours during which a request can be received, etc. Conversely, the person answering may have been uninformed or unqualified to provide this type of advice.
• Anyone who sends a record(s) request to a court using an unvetted independently discovered method should be concerned about the quality of the result(s) they receive. The process may not be for the right court; the dataset may be incomplete and non-compliant and/or not performed by properly trained court staff. Even when properly vetted, the newly found method may only work once or twice, but not for larger volumes.

• ESR and our court research partners are continuously looking for ways to obtain compliant information from courts where closures are in place, including statewide records alternatives. So, in some cases, you might see searches completed in jurisdictions that appear on our court closures list.
• ESR is fully engaged in helping work through these issues – no one benefits from delayed search results.
• Getting and maintaining exact court status is a formidable challenge given the rapidly changing conditions. It is not possible to be aware of all court closures at any given point in time. ESR is as dialed into this as possible and makes frequent updates to the client dashboard, where the current court closure statuses are maintained.
• ESR can and will follow up on court information that candidates and clients provide to ESR as a result of their research. Research suggestions need to include the following information:
  • The court contacted including state, county, and the name of the specific court, such as superior, central, district, etc.
  • Method and accurate contact information used to contact the court, e.g., email address, phone number.
  • Time of day contact was made and returned.<.li>
  • Name of the person at the court who provided the method for submitting a public records request and receiving results.

• If you or your applicant has found an alternative way to get court records related to their background check, ESR will be happy to research it to see if it is a viable and compliant source according to federal and state laws as well as meeting accreditation standards.
• To be compliant, records must be complete and up-to-date. They must include required identifiers, the filing date, the charge(s), charge type, the disposition date, final disposition, and sentencing information.
• Unfortunately, many of these alternative approaches are either non-compliant, unsustainable by the source, or are too time-intensive. Importantly, utilizing unreliable sources puts ESR and our clients at risk.
• Independent of any requests, ESR is seeking viable/reliable legally compliant alternative records research every day.



You are in good hands:

We are all learning the new ways in which our society, including courts and the people who staff them, are affected by sheltering in place and social distancing guidelines. Even once courts reopen, it will take time to recover from backlogs and figure out what the new normal will be. Once again, no one benefits from a delayed background check. ESR has a highly professional court access network and is doing our very best to ensure our clients get accurate, up-to-date results completed through viable compliant sources as quickly as possible.

Keep taking good care!

Employment Screening Resources (ESR)
www.esrcheck.com
Toll Free (888) 999-4474

• ESR to reach out to the candidate for documents proving education/employment history.
• ESR to close the affected screenings.

• Arkansas
• Arizona
• California
• Delaware
• Florida
• Georgia
• Indiana
• Iowa
• Illinois
• Kentucky
• Louisiana
• Massachusetts
• Maryland
• Michigan
• Mississippi
• New Jersey
• New York
• Pennsylvania
• Tennessee
• Texas
• Virginia
• West Virginia

• Indiana (limited access each day
• Massachusetts
• Maryland
• New Jersey
• New York

Since our first COVID-19 communication earlier this week, additional courts have announced closures or delays, and more education institutions have closed. Additionally, employers are implementing their business continuity plans, which is affecting ESR's access to fulfill verifications.

ESR has implemented its business continuity plan, which in large part involves our employees working remotely. We are doing this in full compliance with our Written Information Security Policy, and as always, no client or applicant data will reside anywhere but fully encrypted on our secure collocated database servers. The only difference will be how the team accesses and processes your background check requests. Client services will be available during normal business hours at the same toll-free number and/or direct extensions that you currently use.

Some clients are considering changing their screening criteria as part of their own COVID-19 response. Let us know if we can assist with this by adding new services to your account or modifying packages or directives.

The manner in which ESR will process Verifications and Criminal Record History searches during its COVID-19 response has not changed since our communication on March 16, 2020. At this time, clients should expect extended completion turnaround times for verifications and many court records searches. Please review the current status of these services below. We continue to provide daily updates in the client portal and will also do so by email as warranted.

• ESR to reach out to the candidate for documents proving education/employment history.
• ESR to close the affected screenings.

• Arkansas
• California
• Florida
• Georgia
• Indiana
• Iowa
• Illinois
• Kentucky
• Louisiana
• Massachusetts
• Maryland
• Michigan
• New Jersey
• New York
• Ohio
• Pennsylvania
• Tennessee
• Texas
• Virginia
• Vermont

Affected counties have communicated court closure times ranging from two days, to limited hours every day, to an undetermined amount of time. Some will allow records retrieval through online methods. ESR will do whatever is possible to return court results in the shortest period of time.

• Indiana (limited access each day)
• Massachusetts (planning to open before 3/20/20)
• Maryland (closed until 4/6/20, some online access available)
• New Jersey (closed)
• New York (short staffed)

Clients should expect extended completion turnaround times for many court records. ESR will leave court searches open unless clients would like to request their cancellation. Occasionally, ESR may contact you to discuss the status of certain search requests.

• Pennsylvania Manual MVR's

Due to closures at the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, manual online services are unavailable for at least the next two weeks.

• France
• Canada Provincial Court (Ontario)
• Greece
• Luxembourg
• Jordan

Expect delays of 3-5 days in most other countries.

• China
• Greece
• Brazil
• Jamaica
• Sri Lanka
• Pakistan
• Ukraine

Motor Vehicle Record Searches in the following countries are temporarily unavailable for at least two weeks:

• Puerto Rico

Expect delays of 3-5 days for employment and education verifications in most countries. ESR will leave all delayed international searches open unless directed to close them by clients.

ESR will continue to keep you informed of important updates as new situations arise. Do not hesitate to let us know how we can help you during these unprecedented times. We are here for you!

Please contact Customer Service at clientsupport@esrcheck.com or (888) 999-4474 with any questions you may have. Working together, we can meet the new circumstances we are facing and be stronger once we get through to the other side.

As the world continues to navigate the uncertainty of COVID-19, we want you to know that ESR is committed to supporting your business and to providing you with critical updates.

The impact of the COVID-19 outbreak and efforts to contain the further spread of the virus have necessitated difficult decisions from governments and businesses, which are increasingly affecting the completion of background screenings. As more schools, businesses, and government offices (including courthouses) reduce hours or close entirely in response to the COVID-19 situation, ESR has made and will make additional changes in search processing procedures to ensure that we maximize our rate of completion and provide the best possible turnaround times given current circumstances.

At this time, clients should expect extended completion turnaround times for verifications and many court record searches. Please review the current status of these services below. We will provide daily updates in the client portal and by email as warranted throughout the foreseeable future.