“Just one bad hire can set off a legal and financial firestorm if the person is dangerous, unfit, unqualified or dishonest and a background check would have raised a red flag. “
problems in these areas.
Sifting through the chatter, the EEOC Guidance is driving employers to shift their paradigm about the use of ‘blanket policies that rigidly disqualify individuals’ to practices that more precisely tie to job requirements and individual qualifications. The rise of ‘individual asses sments’ based on job relatedness is the future.
Closely associated with the issue of use of criminal records in the hiring process is the ‘ban the box’ movement which is sweeping across the ‘U.S.’ More than 56 Cities and Counties and more than 10 states have embraced a ‘ban the box’ policy. 2
The other area of concern deals with the recent surge in lawsuits dealing with alleged violations of the FCRA. While lawsuits associated with the FCRA are not new, the striking element about several of these new cases is that they deal with basic tenets of the law such as the use of acknowledgement and release forms. A growing number of law firms have smelled blood and are flocking to FCRA related cases. Employers should be forewarned and make sure that they have a background screening partner that has a strong track record of full FCRA compliance.
Our focus is to help organizations select providers that have the appropriate processes, practices and procedures in place to ensure that the accuracy of information provided is as high as possible.
In general, this means service providers that are: - Complying with applicable governing laws at the federal, state and local level;
- Using business practices based on industry standards (many of these are depicted in the accreditation standards established by the National Association of Professional Background Screeners (NAPBS®); and
- Demonstrating excellence in protecting consumer personal data based on industry ‘best practices .’ Key Fact:
We want to assure readers that the information in this article is provided from an expert third party and objective viewpoint. The author of this article co-wrote, ‘Background Screening & Investigations: Managing Hiring Risk from the HR and Security Perspective’ and our firm,
PreemploymentDirectory.com, is not in the business of providing background checks of any kind.
The following are the best practices that we have identified will help you to select a top notch background screening firm to help you meet your hiring needs.
I. Scrutinize the Firm’s Demonstrated Service Capabilities:
1. Does the vendor provide ‘Full Service’ background screening services that will meet your business and hiring needs and include the following? -
Identity verification, social security trace, fingerprint, etc.;
A particularly noteworthy development is the increasing frequency of lawsuits associating background screening with discrimination or FCRA violations.
Much of the discrimination related issues stem from the new EEOC Guidance focused on using criminal records and arrest records in the hiring process as well as the ever diminishing practice of using credit reports as part of the selection process. While the EEOC has stumbled on a few cases addressing these areas, the practical reality is that a new tone is being set for employers to follow to avoid running into
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