BSIS Description

Aley Moyer

The Californian 2022 Q2 – PREPARING FOR YOUR BSIS RECORDS AUDIT

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PREPARING FOR YOUR BSIS RECORDS AUDIT

Barry A. Bradley, Esq., Managing Partner, Bradley, Gmelich + Wellerstein, CALSAGA Legal Advisor

So, you received a letter from the Bureau of Security and Investigative Services advising that they will be conducting “a routine inspection” of your documents.  It should take no more than two hours (on the average) and the meeting should include the owner(s), executive principals and/or possibly administrative staff “to assess and discuss key aspects of your daily operations” as a PPO.

ALARMS should be going off for you!  There is nothing routine about this. Compliance audits are increasing and you should expect one this year.  In every instance where our clients have contacted us, they have been out of compliance – some just a little, others a lot.  This, despite their best intentions.  

The opportunity to fix your records before you are audited could mean the difference between no citation at all, versus an administrative fine, a cease and desist order, and potential suspension or revocation of your PPO license.  This all becomes very public, too. Make no mistake about it: BSIS is here to regulate, not to collaborate.

Areas Of Concern

As a PPO licensee, you have obligations that will require you to address various areas.  What follows are some of the broad categories that will be inspected.

PPO Records, Vehicles and Uniforms:

  • Are your PPO license and all branch licenses properly displayed.
  • Are your records kept at your principle place of business – as recorded with the Bureau?
  • Are your current badges and patches in conformity with the original BSIS approval?
  • Are your current badges, patches and insignias in compliance with the Private Security Services Act?
  • Are your Certificates of Insurance for both workers compensation and for General Liability in compliance with Business & Professions Code 7583.39 as well as the California Code of Regulations?  
  • Do your advertisements display your PPO number? This might include websites, social media, vehicles, business cards and brochures.
  • Is your business structure in compliance with statutes?
  • Do your business records match the Secretary of State records, as well as BSIS records?
  • Are your patrol vehicles in compliance with the Vehicle Code and the B&P Code regarding their light bars and decals?
  • Are your uniforms in compliance with Business & Professions Code section 7582.26?

Employee Records:

  • Do you maintain the name, address, commencing date of employment, position, and date of termination of each employee in compliance with the Code?
  • Do you maintain current guard card and firearm qualification permit information?
  • Personnel Files: do they contain guard card information, training, and required certifications? (This may include pepper spray and baton permits, as well.)
  • Do you have proper credentials for your off-duty Peace Officers, including a letter from their agency?

Weapons:

  • Do you maintain the required log for all deadly weapons used on duty, including firearms and batons, in compliance with the Code of Regulations? 

Training Certificates and Records :

  • Do you have Certificates of Completion for each course or series of courses for each and every security guard?
  • Do your Certificates contain the required language and information?
  • Do you maintain proof of completion for the Powers to Arrest training for all security guards.
  • Do you have a certificate of proficiency from a licensed training facility for all of your armed officers?
  • Do you maintain proof of completion of the 32 hours of security guard skills training for all guards. (16 in 30 days / 16 in 6 months) and continuing annual training (8 hours)?

RECOMMENDATION: This list is by no means exhaustive.  We recommend a quick legal review well before your audit date.  There will always be blind spots – some significant and some minor.  Our goal, and yours, should be to become compliant (and hopefully before your “routine inspection” by the Bureau).

 

Barry A. Bradley is the Managing Partner of Bradley, Gmelich & Wellerstein LLP located in Glendale, California, where he oversees the Employment and Business Teams at the firm.  A former Deputy District Attorney, Barry’s practice concentrates on representing business owners in employment, business and licensing issues, as well as defending litigated cases involving negligent security, employment and business related issues.  The firm acts as general counsel for many security companies in California.  Barry is a volunteer Legal Advisor to the California Association of Licensed Agencies, Guards, & Associates (CALSAGA), and multiple other non-profits.  

He has been conferred an AV-Preeminent Peer Rating by Martindale Hubbell, the highest rating attainable, and has been named a Southern California Super Lawyer for the past 16 consecutive years in the area of Business Litigation. Barry can be reached at bbradley@bgwlawyers.com / 818-243-5200.

About Bradley, Gmelich & Wellerstein LLP

Founded in 2000, Bradley, Gmelich & Wellerstein, LLP is dedicated to providing sound advice and exceptional results for our clients. Our twenty-five plus skilled, dedicated and diverse attorneys represent individuals and businesses of all sizes in a wide variety of business, employment law and litigation matters.  www.bgwlawyers.com.

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Kate

The Californian 2019 Q1 – 6 TIPS TO RETAIN GOOD SECURITY OFFICERS

6 TIPS TO RETAIN GOOD SECURITY OFFICERS

Kwantek Team

Turnover is always a challenge in the contract security industry, but not all employee turnover has the same impact.

While losing mediocre employees creates more work for you, losing your best security officers can impact the health of your business.

If you’re struggling to retain your best security officers, follow these six tips.

Ensure Job Fit From Day One

No one wants to work at a job that prevents them from spending time with their families or forces them to work in an environment that clashes with their preferred working styles.

To keep your security officers long-term, make sure you’re putting them in an ideal position on their first day on the job. Follow these tips to ensure you’re hiring the right person for the job:

  • Tip #1: Determine what shift they want to work. The hours that people work have an impact on their personal time. To retain your security officers, put them on shifts that complement—rather than impede—the things they want to do in their time off of work.
  • Tip #2: Find out how they like to work. Some people thrive when they’re surrounded by others. Others thrive when working alone. Determine the ideal working conditions for each new security guard, and place them in roles that match those preferences.
  • Tip #3: Ascertain their long-term goals. Some employees may have goals to move into supervisory positions. Others get bored easily and want to learn something new every few months. Find out what new security officers are looking for in the future, then, for example, you can create paths to promotion or plans to move them into new roles.

Sometimes, you can ascertain the answers to these questions during an interview. However, when people are just hoping to get hired, they may give you the answers they think you want to hear rather than truly honest answers.

A better way to find out what each new security guard needs is to use Kwantek’s Working Style Assessment. Our pre-hire assessment asks prospective employees a series of questions that help you determine the best job fit for new security officers, providing you with honest answers about each employee’s preferred working conditions, ideal environments, and long-term goals.

Provide Great Security Officers with Incentives to Stay

Getting new employees in the right role is just step one of retaining them. Once they’re in their positions and doing great work, you need to make an effort to incentivize them to stay.

And while the most obvious incentive is increased pay, that may not always be a viable option for your business. Luckily, there are plenty of other ways to keep great security officers engaged:

  • Tip #4: Offer unique benefits. Even if you can’t afford frequent salary increases, you can make your position better than others your security officers may be considering. Consider increasing the amount of paid time-off your best security officers get, moving them to locations closer to their homes, or offering free snacks and coffee at work.
  • Tip #5: Create a great culture. Creating a great culture doesn’t require a monumental effort. Sometimes, it’s as simple as making your employees feel heard. Build a culture where everyone feels valued by making sure employees have regularly scheduled meetings with their supervisors where they’re free to ask questions and share concerns.
  • Tip #6: Provide incentives to stay. Consider offering officers an annual bonus for each year they stay on the job, giving your most tenured officers their choice of shifts or locations, or creating a promotion path that satisfies the goals of ambitious officers.

Retaining your best security officers isn’t always a matter of offering the highest salary. By providing your security officers with a work environment that makes them feel comfortable and valued—and benefits that provide them with a better work-life balance—you can create positions that are much harder for great security officers to walk away from.

Avoid Turnover and Retain Your Best Security Officers

Sometimes, high turnover—even among your best employees—feels inevitable in the contract security industry. However, if you put people in the right roles from day one and offer unique incentives for great employees to stay with your company, you can stop the revolving door and start retaining your best security officers long-term.

If you’re interested in learning more about how Kwantek’s Working Style Assessment can help you identify the best candidates in the pre-hire process, click here to schedule a demo.

 

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Kate

The Californian 2019 Q1 – EDUCATING YOUR CLIENTS ON THE PERILS OF REST PERIOD VIOLATIONS

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EDUCATING YOUR CLIENTS ON THE PERILS OF REST PERIOD VIOLATIONS

Annette M. Barber, Esq., Bradley & Gmelich, CALSAGA Network Partner

How many times have you attempted to discuss rest periods and the need for relief with your clients?  How did that go?  Did you receive a glazed look that showed lack of interest, or did you receive a hostile response such as “Those are your employees – they are not my responsibility!”  If you are like a lot of account managers, you might have decided not to pursue the issue further and silently vowed to yourself that you would handle this.  Did I summarize this scenario accurately?  If yes, you are not alone.

Unless you have been living in a cave for the past two years, you know that the ruling in Augustus v. ABM Security Industries, Inc., significantly changed the way security professionals operate their businesses. It doesn’t matter any longer if you have one lone guard at a site:  he or she must receive two paid ten minute breaks each day, free from all duties, or you must pay the employee an additional hour of pay for each day.  End of story.

Some businesses may decide to pay the extra hour due to no other reasonable options.  But some of you may decide to partner with your clients to try to develop options to stay legally compliant without incurring additional costs.  That requires you to educate your clients and to also be creative.

Educating your clients shouldn’t be so difficult, right?  But your client’s “What’s in it for me?” response when you approach the topic is not for the faint of heart.  Here is an approach that might work.

  1. Start with the positives – we value your business, we want to ensure the coverage you want and need, we want to limit your liability and prevent co-employment issues.
  2. The ruling in Augustus was unexpected and impractical, but is now the law and we need to comply.
  3. We will be charged one hour of pay for every violation if we cannot give our employees rest periods free from all duties.
  4. And unfortunately, California Labor Code section 2810.3 now makes clients of staffing companies (which guard companies fall under) share in the liability for wage and hour violations of the staffing company, which can include penalties and interest. You could be named in a wage and hour class action lawsuit, which are on the rise.
  5. So we would like to partner with you on reaching some solutions to allow both of us to stay compliant.

At this point, you should offer a few solutions, preferably those that will not cost the client more money, but the reality is that both you and the client should share in any extra costs.

It may be that it is so important to the client that a lone guard not receive an off duty rest period and the client is willing to pay an additional hour of pay (doubtful).  Or maybe the client will agree to let the officer put up a sign that says “Back in 10 minutes.”  Maybe the client has a receptionist that could fill in for an officer twice a day.  In the grand scheme of things, specifically an 8-hour shift, two 10-minute breaks shouldn’t be a deal breaker.

This issue will need to be readdressed as service issues arise, service needs change, staffing changes, etc.  If you are having concerns about a client and/or staying compliant with this requirement, don’t hesitate to reach out to counsel experienced with the security industry.  Wage and hour lawsuits are the most commonly filed lawsuit in the state of California.  Don’t let your company be another statistic.

 

Annette M. Barber is Special Counsel on Bradley & Gmelich LLP’s Employment Team.  She represents clients providing employment advice and counsel in all aspects of hiring, performance management, training, compensation, and termination. Ms. Barber spent the past 17 years working with a global security company of 100,000 U.S. employees as an employment law attorney and then as Corporate Vice President directing HR Compliance nationwide for all 50 states, Puerto Rico and Guam.

Annette drafts and revises policies, handbooks, and extensive training materials for the firm’s clients.  She is a member of the Association of Workplace Investigators, numerous bar associations and employment law sections.  abarber@bglawyers.com / 818-243-5200

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Kate

The Californian 2018 Q4 – PREPARING FOR YOUR BSIS AUDIT

Bradley & Gmelich LLP’s Legal Corner

            In this issue, we address a couple of hot topics for Private Patrol Operators (PPOs).  Both come from our firm’s Private Security Business and Licensing Team.  The first is how to lawfully take advantage of the legalization of cannabis in California in providing security services.  The second addresses getting ready for routine audits of records from BSIS (which they affectionately call “inspections.”)  Our goal is to assist you in figuring out the maze of rules, statutes, regulations and case law that can keep you out of trouble and in lawful compliance.  Both are areas that our clients are frequently calling us about, and we want to share some best quick assistance.

Preparing For Your BSIS Audit

by Barry Bradley, Esq.

So, you received a letter from the Bureau of Security and Investigative Services advising that they will be conducting “a routine inspection” of your documents.  It should take no more than two hours (on the average) and the meeting should include the owner(s), executive principals and/or possibly administrative staff “to assess and discuss key aspects of your daily operations” as a PPO.

ALARMS should be going off for you!  There is nothing routine about this.  In every instance where our clients have contacted us, they have been out of compliance.  This, despite their best intentions.  The opportunity to fix your records before you are audited could mean the difference between no citation at all, versus an administrative fine, a cease and desist order, and potential suspension or revocation of your PPO license.  This all becomes very public, too. Make no mistake about it: BSIS is here to regulate, not to collaborate.

Areas Of Concern:

As a PPO licensee, you have obligations that will require you to address various areas:

PPO Records, Vehicles and Uniforms:

  • Are your PPO license and all branch licenses properly displayed.
  • Are your records kept at your principle place of business – as recorded with the Bureau?
  • Are your current badges and patches in conformity with the original BSIS approval?
  • Are your current badges, patches and insignias in compliance with the Private Security Services Act?
  • Are your Certificates of Insurance for both workers compensation and for General Liability in compliance with Business & Professions Code 7582.39 as well as the California Code of Regulations?
  • Do your advertisements display your PPO number? This might include websites, social media, vehicles, business cards and brochures.
  • Is your business structure in compliance with statutes?
  • Do your business records match the Secretary of State records, as well as BSIS records?
  • Are your patrol vehicles in compliance with the Vehicle Code and the B&P Code regarding their light bars and decals?
  • Are your uniforms in compliance with Business & Professions Code section 7582.26?

Employee Records:

  • Do you maintain the name, address, commencing date of employment, position, and date of termination of each employee in compliance with the Code?
  • Do you maintain current guard card and firearm qualification permit information?
  • Personnel Files: do they contain guard card information, training, and required certifications? (This may include pepper spray and baton permits, as well.)
  • Do you have proper credentials for your off-duty Peace Officers, including a letter from their agency?

Weapons:

  • Do you maintain the required log for all weapons used on duty, including firearms and batons?

Training Certificates and Records :

  • Do you have Certificates of Completion for each course or series of courses for each and every security guard?
  • Do your Certificates contain the required language and information?
  • Do you maintain proof of completion for the Powers to Arrest training for all armed
  • Do you maintain proof of completion of the 32 hours of security guard skills training for all guards. (16 in 30 days / 16 in 6 months) and continuing annual training (8 hours)?

RECOMMENDATION: This list is by no means exhaustive.  We recommend a quick legal review well before your audit date.  There will always be blind spots – some significant and some minor.  Our goal, and yours, should be to become compliant (and hopefully before your “routine inspection” by the Bureau).

 

CONTINUE READING THIS EDITION OF THE CALIFORNIAN

Barry A. Bradley is the Managing Partner of Bradley & Gmelich LLP located in Glendale, California, where he heads up the firm’s Private Security Team and oversees the Employment and Business Teams at the firm.  A former Deputy District Attorney, Barry’s practice concentrates on representing business owners in employment, business and licensing issues, as well as defending litigated cases involving negligent security, employment and business related issues.  The firm acts as general counsel for many security companies in California.  Barry is the Legal Advisor to CALSAGA.

He has been conferred an AV-Preeminent Peer Rating by Martindale Hubbell, the highest rating attainable, and has been named a Southern California Super Lawyer for the past 14 consecutive years in the area of Business Litigation.  Barry is also the recipient of CALSAGA’s Security Professional Lifetime Achievement Award. bbradley@bglawyers.com  818-243-5200.

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