Ban-the-box seems like old news by now as so many states, cities, and counties have enacted some sort of ban-the-box legislation. Most ban-the-box laws address asking about criminal history on job applications. However, some locations are taking it further with Fair Chance Hiring legislation. The Fair Chance Hiring laws address not only when, but how an employer can use criminal history in employment decisions and what obligations they have in making those decisions.

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.

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.

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.

More than 90% of employers use some form of a background screening on applicants or employees when making employment decisions. There can be several reasons for using them: ensuring safety in the workplace; reducing exposure to liability and legal costs; verifying information provided by applicants and employees; and ensuring position fit. However, while these value-adds may make a strong case for conducting employment background screenings, the legal landscape of this area is constantly...

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?

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.

Last year seemed to fly by, but there was plenty of time for lawmakers to make updates to existing laws regarding background checks.

Earlier in the year ASE shared information on the pending law that would redact dates of birth from court records. The law, that was to take effect July 1, 2021, was postponed until January 1, 2022. This change would have made it difficult, if not impossible, to conduct criminal record checks in the State of Michigan.

As more and more states make the use of cannabis being legal, for medical or recreational use, employers have been challenged with making policies that will best protect the company while still allowing them to fill positions.

ASE is a member of the Professional Background Screening Association (PBSA). Recently, the PBSA, along with the HR Research Institute, completed a research report, “Background Screening: Trends in the U.S. and abroad 2021.”  Of the responding employers with locations in the U.S., 95% stated that their company does some type of background screening, and 77% of those companies have a documented screening policy.

 

Back in June we were gearing up for the new identifier redaction policy that was to go into effect in Michigan on July 1^st. This policy would have caused dates of birth to be redacted from court records before those records could be provided to the public. It would also have prohibited court clerks from using date of birth in searches and from verbally verifying dates of birth.

There is some good news for employers regarding credit checks. In a recent lawsuit, TransUnion LLC v. Ramirez (No. 20-297), the Supreme Court reversed a $40 million class action judgement that was awarded to the class members at the circuit court level. The jury of the circuit court trial awarded $1,000 in statutory damages and another $6,300 in punitive damages to each class member. The punitive damages were reduced by half in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals before the case proceeded to...