Powerchex warn that temps require the same level of pre-employment screening as permanent employees

I am sure that everyone has been appauled by the lapses in control that led to innocent children being abused by the people they should trust most, their childminders. This should serve as a reminder that a proper pre-employment screening policy should not exclude casual workers.
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A convicted child sex offender was able to obtain employment in a nursery after staff failed to carry out the required pre-employment screening checks.
Andrew Smith was employed in the kitchen of Norwood Manor Day Nursery through employment agency Reed despite his name appearing on the sex offender’s register after he was caught sending a string of perverted internet messages and webcam footage of him performing a solo sex act to someone he thought was a 13-year-old girl, but was in fact an undercover police officer.
Smith subsequently served 6 months of a 12 month jail sentence and was placed on the sex offenders register for 10 years. The Criminal Records check that is required for those working in nurseries would have revealed this but staff failed to comply.
Alexandra Kelly, a Director at Powerchex, one of the leading pre-employment screening providers, believes that Smith being a temporary employee is no excuse for a low level of vetting, “We advise our clients to determine the level of vetting required using a risk based approach. Temporary workers pose the same, if not a bigger risk to the company than permanent employees. With temps there is an emphasis on the speed of vetting but companies should work closely with their provider of pre-employment screening to ensure that this need does not prevent proper due diligence taking place.”

Should there be pre-employment screening to fish out terrorists?

The FSA has warned again and again about the risk of potential terrorists infiltrating the UK financial systems through gaining employement in permanent or contracting/temp post. Most financial institutions conduct pretty rigorous checks on their permanent employees, but the majority of temps and contractors go unchecked, thus providing an easy route to entry.

Sanctions checks are a quick and cost efffective way to spot any applicant who may be a suspected or convicted terrorist or money launderer. Make sure that your pre-employment checks include sanctions as part of the basic background screening of permanent employees and contractors alike.
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Angsuman Chakraborty reports on his blog:

I know most of you would be outraged at such a question. However just for a moment take a look at the biodata of a jehadi who worked as a senior software engineer / architect at Yahoo. He is a capable technologist, has deep understanding of Linux, Unix & nginx, httpd and other technologies. He is a must hire at most companies he will apply to. However the situation changes drastically if you knew he was a hardcore jehadi and responsible for mass-murder / terrorist attacks.

The key question obviously is how prevalent are such hi-tech jehadis?
Worldwide Muslim fundamentalists are aggressively enlisting the help of computer professionals for hacking (Peerbhoy hacked unsecured wi-fi networks to spread terror threats and more). Peerbhoy's mentor himself enlisted 8-10 hi-tech professionals. He had one person dedicated to bring around Peerbhoy to their cause. They pamper such professionals, tell them about the plight of moslem's worldwide and indoctrinate them in the cause of jihad (and houris?).

So I would say there is a distinct possibility that any company can face the plight of Yahoo. Imagine the embarrassment of Yahoo worldwide for hiring a muslim terrorist. Would you like to work for a company which hires terrorists, albeit unknowingly? I don't blame them; nevertheless it is bad PR. It tarnishes the image of the company, may even create fear within employees and definitely harrassment for all.

In light of apparent surge in hi-tech jihadis, does it make sense to have a system to screen out potential trouble-makers?

Theoretically, can we even think of a set of questions which can screen out potential terrorists? Remember the lame questions you get asked at the airport security check-in? That would be the worse end of the spectrum and I don't think will give any benefit.

Only subtle psychological questioning can potentially reveal such people. I think terrorists are common people who probably have a bad gene which somehow allows them to forget the value of human life. It appears the attraction of several dozen virgins in heaven is also rather hard to ignore. Should we look for repressed personality, people who feel persecuted in some way by the world? This is such a wide area to explore.

I am sure many entrepreneurs are thinking about it too, even if they won't admit it. What is your take on this issue?