Ban-the-Box Laws Continue to Evolve & Continue to Cause Confusion in Pre-Employment Background Screening; Opines CriminalBackgroundRecords.com
Ban-the-Box laws, that have been in place for decades, continue to be updated and expanded thereby causing continued confusion for hiring managers and HR Departments related to compliance with law. Adam Almeida, President and CEO of CriminalBackgroundRecords.com, states: "With every change to the use of criminal history records as part of the pre-employment background screening process companies should take immediate note, and working with a well-qualified third-party pre-employment background screening agency, such as CriminalBackgroundRecords.com, should be a best practice in order to stay in compliance."
WALTHAM, Mass., Feb. 5, 2021 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Seemingly every year laws governing the use of criminal history records, as a part of the pre-employment screening process, change and grow increasingly complicated. Adam Almeida, President and CEO of CriminalBackgroundRecords.com, states: "Working with a well-qualified third-party pre-employment background screening agency, such as CriminalBackgroundRecords.com, should remain a best practice for all employers in order to avoid confusion and potential risk regarding the use of criminal records reports."
Ban-the-Box laws have spread across the country and have been enacted in numerous states and municipalities. Arising from a perception of inequality and bias based on the box that asks if you have criminal history on employment applications, Ban-the-Box laws continue to evolve.
From Business.com on January 25, 2021:
Social justice advocates and employment experts say those convicted of crimes should be allowed to prove their qualifications for a job instead of being eliminated early in the process. With this in mind, there has been a push over the past two decades for employers to remove this type of question from the initial job application and instead ask it later in the hiring process. In theory, this gives job candidates the chance to make their initial case for why they should be hired. It lets them be evaluated on their qualifications, rather than on their criminal convictions, which may or may not give insight into the type of employee they would be. (1)
As time passes laws evolve and legislative bodies continue to modify and/or improve these laws. Every time a background screening law changes, employers should take immediate note.
A good example of modification to law is in Illinois. In early 2021 the state legislative took up the issue of improving existing ban-the-box laws, unique to that state.
From JDSupra.com on January 28, 2021:
On January 13, 2021, the last day before the previous General Assembly adjourned, the Illinois legislature passed Senate Bill 1480 as part of an ambitious lame duck legislative agenda. The bill amends the IHRA to make it a civil rights violation to use a conviction record in any employment-related decision, unless (1) there is a "substantial relationship" between the criminal offense and the position or (2) it would involve an "unreasonable risk" to property or the safety of a specific individual or the general public. (2)
Almeida concludes: "Laws change all the time and a best practice remains for employers to work with a well-qualified third-party pre-employment background screening agency in order to stay current with laws governing the employment process."
CriminalBackgroundRecords.com is a third-party employment screening company, an advocate of SHRM, a member in good standing with the PBSA (Professional Background Screening Association) and for over 17 years has maintained an A+ Rating with the BBB (Better Business Bureau). The company has highly trained operators well versed in the needs and requirements of companies and organizations large and small utilizing public records, such as criminal background records, as part of a hiring process. Assisting companies in maintaining full compliance under the law is a central tenet of all client relationships with CriminalBackgroundRecords.com.
Notes:
(1) business.com/articles/ban-the-box-laws/
(2) jdsupra.com/legalnews/illinois-poised-to-bar-criminal-1774361/
Media Contact
Dan Adams, Criminal Background Records, 877-811-6557, [email protected]
SOURCE CriminalBackgroundRecords.com
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