03/03/2025 - Various county courts are experiencing delays, please see the notes below:
Cuyahoga OH - The Cleveland Municipal Court, one of the 13 courts in Cuyahoga OH, has experienced a cyber security incident. The court is currently closed and access to their online index has been removed. The court has stated that there is an ongoing investigation of the incident but has not provided a timeline for restoration. Cuyahoga orders will be on hold until access to the online index and court has been restored.
Lorain, OH - The Lorain Municipal Court's primary index is currently not up to date with case information. Please expect delays while we continue to process searches conventionally.
Allen, OH - Lima Municipal Court is implementing a new case management system, and the current primary index will be unavailable while the transition takes place. Please expect delays on all Allen, OH orders until the new case management system is accessible.
Orleans, LA - The online index for Orleans is currently down with no ETA on when it will be restored. Please expect delays while the outage persists.
Cook, IL - The public access terminals in Cook are currently missing identifier information including full dates of birth, addresses, and driver license numbers. Please expect delays on Cook orders while our team works with the court to understand why identifiers are no longer available on the public access terminals. At this time, the court clerks cannot confirm if this is a temporary or permanent change.
Effective 09/01/2024, there will be an increase in the 3rd party Work Number Fee. Contact ESA if you have any further questions
***New Client Document Upload Feature***
ESA has enabled a new feature for our clients where if ESA has contacted you for an updated release, SSN verification or any other document that contains sensitive data, you can now upload this document to the report that is currently in progress. You will see this feaure towards the top of the report under the header "Background Check Currently In Progress."
The Work Number
Equifax, the owner and operator of The Work Number, is now requiring that any client of ESA that requests employment verifications to have go through a credentialing process and onsite inspection of their place of business. There will be a onetime $175.00 fee for this credentialing/inspection process as well. If you request Employment Verifications through ESA then one of our representatives will be contacting you in the near future to start this requirement.
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UPDATE REGARDING TESTING DELAYS
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The Nation is currently experiencing a staffing shortage that is impacting most industries including all aspects of federal and workplace drug testing. The staffing demand, in combination with a supplies shortage, the Federal requirement for the use of the new chain-of-custody form for DOT testing, and logistical hurdles transporting specimens to labs have caused an extreme backlog at every major laboratory.
LABORATORY IMPACT
Testing
The national staffing shortage has impacted turnaround times at each step in the testing process, from the point the specimen is received at the lab to reporting out a final result. Current times for accessioning specimens can vary anywhere from 3-6 days. Laboratories are making adjustments every day to manage the ever-changing environment such as shifting employees to different departments as needed, adding second shifts, adding equipment, and over-hiring to accommodate staffing challenges. it is important to keep in mind that these issues are impacting all laboratories industry-wide.
Supplies
Effective August 30, 2021 the new federal CCF became required for DOT testing, resulting in large numbers of orders for new forms. Severe 2021 winter weather in petroleum-producing areas has also caused plastic shortages. These issues have reduced the availability of cups and forms, in addition to creating delays and partial fulfillment of orders.
IN SUMMARY
With this communication it is our hope to set realistic expectations regarding current turnaround times. We are hopeful that as more people return to the workforce, the staffing and supply chain issues plaguing our industry will be alleviated. Additionally, as the new Federal CCF circulates, the issues with the old forms should also cause less of an impact. Our laboratory partners believe they are on solid footing in implementing long-term solutions to address turnaround time delays. With all of this in mind, we ask for your patience in weathering this “perfect storm” together.
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Please contact us if you have any further questions.
Effective immediately - You can now upload the Applicant Release Form to every report entered for processing. No more faxing or scan-copying the authorization forms necessary for data retrieval! Simply upload a Pdf copy of the authorization form right before you order the report, and the forms will be attached to all necessary components. Please let us know if you have any questions - We will be happy to walk you through your first trial run!
Thank you and please let us know if you have any questions.
Employment Screening Associates
800.706.8848
esa@emplscreen.com
www.esachecks.com
