KEN KIRSCHENBAUM, ESQ ALARM - SECURITY INDUSTRY LEGAL EMAIL NEWSLETTER / THE ALARM EXCHANGE You can read all of our articles on our website. Having trouble getting our emails? Change your spam controls and whitelist ken@kirschenbaumesq.com ****************************** More comment on liability for employee crimes / License question September 19, 2022 *********************** More comment on liability for employee crimes from article on September 5, 2022 ************************ Ken Mr. Pfefer makes some great points about employee screening. I’m a proud graduate of the Reid College of Detection of Deception and have been giving polygraph examinations for 35 years. The government largely prohibited pre-employment polygraph examinations years ago but there are still many tools available to make sure your hire is what he or she is what you want them to be. Drug test, check the criminal history, do whatever is legal in your state to make sure your making a good hire. Jesus picked twelve apostles and one of them turned out to be a stinker…you can never be too sure. Daniel J. Boyd, President Boyd & Associates Ventura, Ca. 93001 ********************** Response ********************** Just be cautious what investigation you can perform. There are a myriad of laws, employment, constitutional and criminal laws. If you are in a state where the employees need to be registered or approved by the license agency then let them do the heavy lifting. A poor driving record is not a protected class; generally you can ask about education and prior jobs, though you may not be able to ask about prior pay. K&K has an employment law department; use it. Call Jennifer Kirschenbaum at 516 747 6700 x 302 or email her at Jennifer@Kirschenbaumesq.com; Concierge Clients should call our Concierge Program Coordinator Stacy Spector,Esq at 516 747 6700 x 304 or email her at SSpector@Kirschenbaumesq.com *********************** License question ************************ Ken, I use a nationwide monitoring for my central station. I have had friends and family complete their installation outside of NY. I am only licensed in NY. I have connected them to the CS and wondered if I am at risk because I am not licensed in those states. Currently, I have two sons, one in VT and one in RI, and one friend in NC that I monitor through the CS. Is there a different agreement I should have them sign so that their insurance company will not be after me if a catastrophic event occurs? Sincerely, Bob ******************* Response ******************* A professional central station should be licensed in all the areas it has end users where a license to monitor is required. A Dealer needs its own license; it cannot depend on the central station’s license. If the Dealer is contracting for monitoring then it’s in the monitoring business; same as the central station, at least as far as the licensing law goes. If you have only a handful of accounts you may wonder if it’s worth it to get licensed or look for an employee [license holder] to hold the license for your company. Obviously the economics won’t justify the license expense. Whether you decide to take a chance and monitoring without the license is up to you; not something I can recommend. Think of it this way. If you need a driver’s license in every state and had one only in California and you had to drive to New York. You call and ask me, and I tell you the obvious. You make the drive anyway and either make it without a ticket for driving without a license or you get one or more tickets. The question on everyone’s mind is what about you liability? Well, it’s not likely you have more liability just because you’re not licensed, but don’t stop worrying about it that fast. Now check to make sure you will have E&O coverage in a state where you’re not licensed. Without E&O coverage you definitely have added risk; too much risk. Get licensed or get insurance that covers unlicensed work [assuming you can]. ********************* To order up to date Standard Form Alarm / Security / Fire and related Agreements click here: www.alarmcontracts.com *************************** To order up to date Standard Form Alarm / Security / Fire and related Agreements click here: www.alarmcontracts.com *************************** CONCIERGE LAWYER SERVICE PROGRAM FOR THE ALARM INDUSTRY - You can check out the program and sign up here: https://www.kirschenbaumesq.com/page/concierge or contact our Program Coordinator Stacy Spector, Esq at 516 747 6700 x 304. *********************** ALARM ARTICLES: You can always read our Articles on our website at ww.kirschenbaumesq.com/page/alarm-articles updated daily ******************** THE ALARM EXCHANGE - the alarm industries leading classified and business exchange - updated daily ************************* Wondering how much your alarm company is worth? Click here: https://www.kirschenbaumesq.com/page/what-is-my-alarm-company-worth ****************************** Getting on our Email List / Email Articles archived: Many of you are forwarding these emails to friends or asking that others be added to the list. Sign up for our daily newsletter here: Sign Up. You can read articles and order alarm contracts on our web site www.alarmcontracts.com ************************** Ken Kirschenbaum,Esq Kirschenbaum & Kirschenbaum PC Attorneys at Law 200 Garden City Plaza Garden City, NY 11530 516 747 6700 x 301 ken@kirschenbaumesq.com www.KirschenbaumEsq.com
