The 2014 Year End Report shows that Ban the Box was the runaway issue of the year and it literally took over the conversation about background checks.
Lake Forest, CA (PRWEB) January 27, 2015
PreemploymentDirectory.com, the background screening information portal for Human Resources professionals, today announced the release of their 2014 Year End Report¹ on the top issues that impacted background screening. The report takes a look at the top stories and news items that appeared in the industry leading e-magazine, The Background Buzz, and itemizes the most significant issues. At the top of the list was the growing number of state and local jurisdictions passing Ban the Box laws followed by class action lawsuits alleging violations of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA).
Other top issues included laws passed that restrict employers from accessing applicants’ and employees’ social media account passwords, laws passed that restrict the use of credit reports for employment purposes and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service’s (USCIS) relentless enforcement of immigration E-verify requirements.
W. Barry Nixon, COO, PreemploymentDirectory.com and publisher of The Background Buzz, said, “The 2014 Year End Report shows that Ban the Box was the runaway issue of the year and it literally took over the conversation about background checks.” Nixon added, “The Year End Report clearly highlights that the major challenge facing background screening companies is an increasingly complex legal compliance environment.”
Ban the Box laws, in general, removes the criminal history question from job applications and restricts an employer’s use of a criminal record to disqualify an applicant until after they have been interviewed or, in some cases, after a conditional offer of employment has been made. The intent of these laws is to give previously convicted persons a better opportunity to gain meaningful employment and therefore reduce the high recidivism rate. Nationwide, over 80 cities and/or states have passed Ban the Box laws and more are expected to pass in 2015.
In 2014, an unprecedented number of class action lawsuits were filed alleging violations of the FCRA. The startling fact about the vast majority of these lawsuits is that many of the alleged violations involved the use of incorrect Acknowledgement and Release forms providing applicant consent or failure to provide notice of intended adverse action. These are basic requirements of the FCRA. It’s clear that many corporations fell asleep at the switch in many of these cases and plaintiff attorneys have made them pay dearly.
The 2014 Year End Report can be downloaded at http://www.PreemploymentDirectory.com. Please direct any questions to W. Barry Nixon at 1-949-770-5264 or you can email him at wbnixon(at)PreemploymentDirectory(dot)com.
ABOUT PREEPLOYMENTDIRECTORY.COM:
PreemploymentDirectory.com is the leading background screening information portal on the web and houses the leading directory of background screening companies designed to make it easy for organizations to quickly find a background screening provider to meet their needs. The Directory includes an information rich Background Screening Knowledge Center, U.S. and International Resource Centers that provide important information about conducting background checks in countries around the world and a comprehensive Article Library.
1) "2014 Year End Report," http://content.yudu.com/Library/A3czfh/YearinReview2015/resources/index.htm?referrerUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fpreemploymentdirectory.com%2F
