Compliance Guidelines For Employee Background Checks

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Compliance Guidelines For Employee Background
Checks
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• The rules surrounding background employment
  checks often change, and in recent years, the
  process has gotten more and more complex. If
  youre an employer or work for a background
  screening company, you need to ensure that youre
  up to date with the latest laws and new
  guidelines to avoid incurring penalties for
  non-compliance.
• Here are a few ways to remain compliant when
  conducting, or applying for employee background
  checks
• Follow the FCRA
• The Fair Credit Reporting Act must be strictly
  adhered to when planning to run a background
  check, and here are some of its rules

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• The subject must give their consent for a
  background check to be provided to their
  employer.
• They must be informed if any of the details
  uncovered in their background check have been
  used against them
• Subjects have the explicit right to know what is
  in their report.
• They also have the right to dispute incomplete or
  inaccurate information in the background check
• If youre an employer who is looking to compile
  their own background check policy, you must be
  compliant with the law, and the best way of
  ensuring this is to seek legal counsel.

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• Engage with a CRA or other such professional
  service
• There are plenty of less reputable websites out
  there who offer to conduct background checks on
  employees, but you should avoid cutting corners
  or costs and stick with the Consumer Reporting
  Agency. Before engaging with them, employers need
  to send an RFP, or request for proposals, to
  potential vendors before hiring a CRA.
• Be prepared for consumers to take an active
  interest in the process
• With the increased popularity of background
  checks, job candidates are taking a more active
  and interested role in proceedings, and they are
  more aware of their rights now than ever before.

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• Legislation entitled Ban the Box will expand
  and evolve
• Job applicants with a criminal record are now
  being helped to reintegrate back into society
  with the introduction of legislation known as
  Ban the Box. Researchers are just beginning to
  evaluate whether such policies are helping to get
  reformed criminals back into work, or whether
  they are in fact, creating greater racial
  discrimination.
• As an employer or someone who runs background
  checks for others, you need to be up to date with
  policies like these and regularly review the
  current laws and regulations in order to comply.

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• More and more companies are opting to perform
  background checks
• 96 of companies surveyed last year for the
  National Association of Professional Background
  Screeners, stated that they conduct one or more
  types of background checks on potential
  employees. With public safety being one of the
  top factors affecting this, all companies looking
  to recruit new staff should seriously consider
  screening applicants.
• Note that litigation cases are on the increase
• The Fair Credit Reporting Act is unlike other
  consumer protection statutes, in that it doesnt
  provide a cap on statutory damages in class
  actions, causing litigation cases to rise in the
  background screening industry.

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• The industry as a whole has become a target for
  class action litigation and is most notably in
  cases where the job applicant has suffered no
  demonstrable harm.
• Taking care to follow the rules and regulations
  to the letter when conducting employee background
  checks, is the only way to make yourself less of
  a target for litigation, and advice and guidance
  from a qualified and experienced screening
  service provider, is the simplest and most
  effective solution.

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