As I sit in a hotel room in Texas the day before the start of the Professional Background Screening Association (PBSA) annual conference, it made me pause to consider how much better this is than going virtual during the pandemic. Don’t get me wrong, there are benefits to learning virtually, and I can learn from both virtual and in-person classes, but there is something different about an in-person conference.
California is once again making changes to how employers can use information obtained in criminal background checks. Last month, changes that had been proposed by the California Civil Rights Council were approved by the California Civil Rights Council and the Office of Administrative Law.
Are your employees and managers using marijuana on the job? With more and more locations making marijuana use legal for medical and/or recreational use, it is quite possible. In fact, in one article by the Wall Street Journal, an employee admitted to not only smoking marijuana on the job and in front of his boss, but also to sharing it with his boss.
Change is a constant, and that is certainly true in background screening laws. Some changes seem like common sense and are easy to apply, such as having a clear and concise disclosure form. Making sure that anyone giving permission for an employment background check understands what they are agreeing to is basic fairness, and unless an employer has some nefarious intent in mind for a background check, this should be an easy compliance item.
Anyone running an employment background check through a third party, such as a background screening company such as ASE and/or automated verification systems is considered a user of consumer reports and therefore must follow the requirements of the FCRA.
Ban-the-box might seem like old news, but these laws are constantly being added and/or updated. It is important for employers to keep up with the laws in all areas in which their employees work. The city of Chicago recently expanded its requirements on how employers may use criminal records in hiring decisions.
There is a lot of talk about artificial intelligence (AI) these days. Some AI programs are becoming so sophisticated that it can be difficult to tell if the person talking to you on screen is real or an AI created person.
Recently, I had conversations with several people about brain fog, and most of those people chalked it up to age. However, there are other causes for not being able to find your words, having trouble concentrating, or not remembering why you walked into the kitchen.
California is once again looking at making changes to how employers can use information from background checks in employment decisions. The California Civil Rights Department’s Civil Right Council released their most recent draft of changes to their Fair Employment and Housing Ace (FEHA) this past December. This update addresses proposed changes to the use of criminal history for employment decisions.
More and more employers are considering applicants from other countries to fill vacant positions. While international checks take a longer time to complete, employers can help themselves get through the process more efficiently by providing required information up front.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is being used more often and for a variety of purposes. Michigan State University received a $1.7 million grant to use AI in finding new drugs for treating diseases. Cyber security uses AI in various forms such as facial recognition to “verify a person’s real-world identity.” These seem to be good uses for AI.
If you use a consumer reporting agency or third-party vendor such as ASE to conduct a background check on an employee or applicant, you must comply with the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) by first providing the employee or applicant with a written consumer report disclosure. Employers that fail to do this or do it incorrectly expose themselves to significant liability.
What does eating frogs have to do with productivity at work? No, I am not talking about frog legs, which can be found on restaurant menus.
When we think of identity theft, our minds typically go to the culprits opening up credit card accounts or getting loans using another person's information. Identity theft has gone up over the last five years, and according to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the number of reported identity theft cases in 2021 increased more than 70% over 2020.
Employers have had to scramble over the last three years while dealing with COVID. Suddenly working from home was not a rare option but a required way to keep businesses going while keeping employees as safe as possible. Now that most companies and employees have found their groove in dealing with the pandemic, long COVID is creating new challenges for employers and the employees suffering from the symptoms.
Most people who use background checks for employment purposes are at least familiar with the Fair Credit Reporting Act, or FCRA. But did you know that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has some control over what records a background screening company, commonly referred to as a consumer reporting agency (CRA), can provide to you as an end-user of background screening reports?
As more and more states are legalizing the use of marijuana for medical use, recreational use, or both, employers are facing more challenges with maintaining workplace safety while avoiding the pitfalls of laws that are employee friendly to users of marijuana.
Many employers are investing in health programs for their employees. It could be offering to co-pay for a gym membership, providing online health support programs, or providing on-site fitness centers. However, one important health benefit that employers have offered for a long time is vacation time.
What if you could save your company thousands of dollars, or more, and protect its reputation using one simple form? There is no doubt that anyone in an HR position is overworked, and these days many are understaffed; however, when it comes to the disclosure form for background checks, it is imperative that anyone involved in the process takes the time to ensure they are sending forms to their applicants which are FCRA compliant.
Spring has sprung, at least by the calendar, which means it is time to hire summer help. Help could come in the form of interns, co-ops, work study programs, or perhaps even just helping a young person with an employment opportunity. What does this mean for employers?
If you run background checks which include employment verifications, you are most likely aware that most employers these days use automated systems for employment verifications. One of the biggest of these systems is The Work Number, which is owned by Equifax.
Whether or not we admit it, we all want to be liked on some level, and our style of communication can help or hinder achieving the likability we crave. Brother and sister duo, Kathy and Ross Petras, who teamed up to write what they call “word-oriented books,” have put together the following tips containing common mistakes that the most likeable people avoid:
At some time in our careers, most of us will run into at least one narcissist in the workplace, and we can cross paths with such people in our personal lives as well. It’s important to be able to recognize narcissists in the workplace and know how to address them.