Resident alien b'ground checks

KD13

I have hired amigos from south of the border who have had Green Cards. I have never attempted to run background checks on any Resident Aliens however. To the best of all of you forumites knowledge, is there anything in particular I need to do differently? The gentleman in question is from India and has only been working in the U.S. since August '04. I will use an outside source to do the background checks. My concern is the background check will be limited to the time period since August '04 when I believe he moved here. Is that the best I should expect or is there something or somewhere else I should check? Thanks for your help!

Crout

I assume your use of "amigos" is intended as a term of respect and not pejorative in any sense, correct? As someone who is married to an "amigo" I'm a little sensitive to those things. Anyway, there is nothing you need to do differently in regard to checking the background of a Resident Alien. Yes, it will only cover the time he/she has been in the U.S.

Don D

However, you are at liberty to require education and employment documentation from the candidate reflecting what he or she accomplished in another country. It's difficult if not impossible to verify most of it, but you can give whatever value you want to to it. They should not be given a free ride with no documentation required. Copies of diplomas, performance reviews, letters of recommendation, narratives about what they did....all of this can be required of any candidate, regardless of where they received the education or work experience.

TN HR

The Don makes an excellent point. In a previous life I hired a lot of IT professionals from India and elsewhere. Many of them had attended schools and worked in the U.S., however, some had not.

The embassy for their respective country was always a good resource for document translation and work verification. I also had a fair amount of success in getting educational equivalent "transcripts" from them.

Good luck.

Gene

pork1

Ditto, and you might be surprized that they don't have any, but the illegals, I know use these documents as proof of who they really are.

PORK

KD13

Thank you for your responses. Crout, in no way did I mean anything derogatory with the use of "amigo". I have worked with many hispanics over the years and have nothing but admiration for their work ethic and devotion to their family.

LindaE

Hi, Crout, I understand your sensitivity to the use of the word "amigo" - we use it all the time, too! but in a respectful way. We refer to our Spanish speakers as amigos because we don't want to categorize or label them, and our guys don't want their cultures confused. I like to use the word to remind us that these workers aren't numbers, they're people, and rather than refer to them blankly as "the field crew" or "field employees", amigo personalizes it, for me anyway.
Linda

Don D

It simply means 'friend', right? I don't know a lick of Spanish as far as I know, but I thought that's what Amigo meant. How could 'friend' be derogatory?

LindaE

I've been criticized and given weird looks here when I refer to the guys as amigos, believe it or not. In this age of political correctness, to which I generally do not ascribe, any label can be miscontrued. I don't care. We like our guys, we take care of them, and I have yet to find a better way to refer to them as a group.

Crout

Perhaps if you used "Hispanic" or "Latino" you might not get weird looks. It's just an idea.

TN HR

My heritage is Mexican-Italian, both parents 2nd generation Mexican-American and Italian-American, respectively. I would not be at all offended if someone referred to me by amigo or even camerata.

Anything above and beyond proper terms I would draw the line at. Not necessarily because of the ethnic implication but rather from the inappropriateness of it. I would no more greet a fellow Italian as goombah, a fellow Mexican as vato then I would an African-American as cuz or G.

Gene

Crout

I think the idea is that there's a difference between referring to an individual as "amigo" and referring to an entire group of people as "amigos." Beyond that, I think it's quite possible that the term itself CAN be used disparagingly, but that's a question of context and intent, which is why I posed the initial question to the poster. Personally, as a professional I only use the EEOC terms when referring to any group of people. Some folks just don't like to be "politically correct," and I understand that reaction, but what I've found is that being politically correct will NEVER hurt me professionally, and the fact that I make the effort conveys respect for those groups of people, which is a good thing.

Don D

Speaking of disparaging terms, and I'm honestly inquiring here; but, isn't 'Crout' a slam at the German people? What if I were to refer to one German as Crout or a roomful as Crouts or 'you Crouts' or 'them Crouts? And I never heard of a G or a Goomba or greeted a 'just met' individual as 'AAeeeeey whazzup BRO?'

Thanks,

A Honky


On a side note, but to the point, why do we need to refer to groups of people at all, except to segregate them conversationally. When some buddies and I slipped into Black Tonks as eighteen year olds, I imagine we weren't referred to as 'us'. Probably something closer to 'them white MFs'. But is was fun anyway. x:-)

Crout

"Kraut" would be disparaging, although since I am of German descent and "in the club" so to speak, I am allowed to be disparaging of my own people. I didn't write that rule, but I've observed it in action many times. "Crout" is part of my last name, (Crouthamel) and my old nickname in the Marine Corps, so it has sentimental value to me. If there are any folks in the Forum of German descent who are offended by my little nickname please let me know and I will consider changing it...briefly. It was also my father's nickname at Bethlehem Steel for 40 years. I can imagine what his response would be to such a request.