FYI Employee Background Screening

Faster, Smarter, Easier Employee Screening

Header Right

800.809.2419

Legal Compliance

Is It Legal For An Employer To Charge A Potential Employee For A Background Check?

By

question_valerie_everett

I recently checked out Quora which is getting a lot of buzz lately (with mixed reviews). What is Quora you ask? The best way to describe it is it’s a Q&A social networking site. I’m not sure if Quora is going to be social media’s newest “it” platform, but I did find some questions on employee background screening that you might find helpful.

Here’s one question that I recently answered:

Q – Is it legal for an employer to charge a potential employee for a background check? If a business requires employees to be screened for past criminal behavior, is it acceptable to charge potential employees for the cost of the screening?

A- There is no federal law that prohibits employers charging a potential employee for a background check but the following states (and Washington, DC) have laws that limit this practice:

  • California, Minnesota, Washington,DC – the employee cannot be required to pay for a background check as a condition of employment.
  • Vermont – limits an employer charging a potential employee for a background check if they are using specific sources.
  • Kansas – employers can’t require potential employees to obtain their own records and give them to the employer.

What questions do you have about background checks?

Photo credit: Valerie Everett

The Challenges of Background Check Compliance for Employers

By

maze1

Littler Mendelson’s Privacy & Data Protection Practice Group just published an excellent article highlighting the challenges of background check compliance for employers:

New California Law Illustrates Challenges of Background Check Compliance for Employers

“Background checks seem to be a hot topic in state legislatures these days. In the past six months, for example, several states — including Illinois, Massachusetts, Oregon, and most recently California — have enacted laws bearing upon the process of checking the backgrounds of job applicants and employees. Under the new California law (pdf), effective January 1, 2012, background check authorizations must include the “Internet Web site address . . . where the consumer may find information about the investigative reporting agency’s privacy practices.” This seemingly trivial change is endemic to the challenges that employers confront in the area of background check compliance.”

Read more…

Smart, Compliant Hiring Decisions Made Easy

FYI Screening can help your company navigate the compliance maze. You’ll feel confident that you’re using the most up-to-date, accurate information available to ensure a safe and compliant environment for your workforce and customers.

Photo credit: kelp1966

Everything You Need To Know About Form I-9 Compliance

By

flag

Why Employers Must Verify Employment Authorization and Identity of New Employees

Source: U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS)

In 1986, Congress reformed U.S. immigration laws. These reforms, the result of a bipartisan effort, preserved the tradition of legal immigration while seeking to close the door to illegal entry. The employer sanctions provisions, found in section 274A of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), were added by the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986 (IRCA). These provisions further changed with the passage of the Immigration Act of 1990 and the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act (IIRIRA) of 1996.

Employment is often the magnet that attracts individuals to reside in the United States illegally

The purpose of the employer sanctions law is to remove this magnet by requiring employers to hire only individuals who may legally work here: citizens and nationals of the United States, lawful permanent residents, and aliens authorized to work.

To comply with the law, you must verify the identity and employment authorization of each person you hire, complete and retain a Form I-9 for each employee, and refrain from discriminating against individuals on the basis of national origin or citizenship.

Form I-9 helps employers to verify individuals who are authorized to work in the United States.

Resources

  • Handbook For Employers (pdf)  – provides guidance on how to properly complete Form I-9, and answers frequently asked questions about the law as it relates to Form I-9  (Source: U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS)

Smart, Compliant Hiring Decisions Made Easy

FYI Screening offers smart background screening technology & practices that allow companies to quickly become more competitive, compliant & efficient.

Photo Credit: IAN RANSLEY DESIGN + ILLUSTRATION

Possible Amendment to Fair Credit Reporting Act – Ban Employers’ Use of Credit Checks

By

IMG_1834

Seyfarth Shaw LLP, one of America’s leading full-service law firms, reported Senator Dianne Feinstein of California recently introduced SA 3795 as an amendment to the  Fair Credit Reporting Act.

“Senator Feinstein’s bill proposes to restrict an employer from using a “consumer’s creditworthiness, credit standing, or credit capacity” in making any employment decision or for the basis of taking any adverse action—regardless of whether a consumer gives an employer consent to use such information.

The only exceptions to this prohibition would be for:

1) national security or FDIC clearance;

2) employment with state or local government agency which requires the use of this information;

3) employment in a management position with access to customer funds at a financial institution; or

4) as otherwise required by law.”

Read More

Photo Credit: TheTruthAbout…

Employee Screening Newsletter – Spring 2010

By

newspaper1

The Spring 2010 edition of our Safe Hire newsletter is available for viewing. We publish our newsletter on a quarterly basis to keep employers better informed about employee background screening trends, legal compliance issues and company news.

In this issue we’re going to cover EEOC compliance and investigations, record retention and a technology update.  Please let us know if there are any specific topics or questions you want us to cover.

Read the Safe Hire newsletter

sign-up

Sign-up to Receive The Safe Hire Newsletter