Compliance Required for Employment Background Checks in 2014

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If these steps are not taken by the employer, it is a violation of the applicant’s civil rights and can the basis for a lawsuit which is not a defensible position.

Elk Grove, CA (PRWEB) January 17, 2014

With the increased use of pre-employment background screening becoming a standard “best practice” for employers, scrutiny of the industry as a whole is becoming more focused going into 2014. Many notable cases involving a lack of compliance in regards to the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) have come to the limelight illustrating that some employment background screening companies and many employers do not have a full understanding of what is required to be FCRA compliant. One of the most important facets of remaining within FCRA compliance is understanding exactly what is required if negative information contained in the report could prevent a job offer.

Pre-Adverse Action is the first step taken after there is information uncovered in the background check that has made an applicant potentially ineligible for hire. What is required on the employer’s part now is to notify the applicant of these results and allot them a reasonable period (7-10 days) to dispute whatever adverse information that they might consider inaccurate. During this challenge period, the position officially remains open until the dispute process has been completed. The reason that this step is so important is that it enables the applicant to respond to possible incorrect information and/or informs them of possibly why a job offer has been redacted.

If notification has not been received from the applicant to dispute the material uncovered in the background report, the next step is Adverse Action. This step allows for an employer to retract an offer of employment based off the data collected through a background screening report, and formally closes the interaction with the candidate.

If these steps are not taken by the employer, it is a violation of the applicant’s civil rights and can be the basis for a lawsuit which is not a defensible position. These lawsuits coincide with large judgments and negative public relation blows of which no amount of money can correct. It is important for all employers to understand that compliance in the hiring process is not optional and that the consequences are innumerable.

HireSafe is one of the nation’s highest ranked background screening companies, rated A+ by the Better Business Bureau. In operation since 1997, HireSafe is a full-line provider of Human Resource solutions, including Employment Background Screening, Drug Testing, Form I-9 Document Management with E-Verify and Applicant Tracking. As a CA licensed Private Investigative Agency (PI #25313), HireSafe provides only responsible, professional and FCRA compliant reports to their clients.

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