Understanding Important FCRA rules for employment screening

Conducting employment background checks are an important part of the hiring process.

They are the backbone of risk management for any business  or organization. 

The background check process is regulated primarily by the Federal    Fair Credit Reporting Act.

 However, many states and some cities have their own employment screening laws which often overlap the Federal regulations and are sometimes even more strict.

 Laws such as “Ban The Box” have been enacted by a number of states and cities.
  

      At    National Employment Screening we try to help our clients understand what the requirements are of an FCRA compliant background check process. 

 
We provide a number of informational pages in our website, and our Automated Employment screening process provides an easy way to stay in compliance.

 Our initial proposals always include a link to the helpful Federal EEOC site: 

“Background Checks: What Employers Need To Know”

Moreover, we love speaking with our clients and providing them with answers and suggestions.

Background checks usually consist of  criminal record checks, prior employment verifications, credential verifications, credit reports, and driving records.

We have a number of other informational pages in our website, but  please  note   none of the information we provide should be construed as legal advice.

The Federal rules regarding employment screening are contained in the   Fair Credit Reporting Act. 

FCRA Compliant

The three main goals of the FCRA with regard to running background checks on  prospective  employees are

1. You must ensure all applicants are given conspicuous explicit notification of your intention to run a background check.
 2. The applicant must specifically agree to any background checks that are to be done.

This must be on a completely separate piece of paper and the release or authorization cannot be a part of any other form.

3. Applicants must be allowed to correct any misinformation before any hiring decisions are made.

Job candidates must sign a release form agreeing to permit a background check before it is performed.

The most common background checks are criminal record checks, credit reports, and driving records.

Of course job applicants cannot be forced to sign a release or authorization form but conversely, employers are not forced to hire them either. 

To avoid any issues regarding discrimination, just be sure this and all other employment policies are both consistent and applied consistently.What happens if they are not willing to sign?

You cannot perform the background check in that case…but   you are not required to hire them, either. It is very important that you have a consistent policy on this to avoid any charges of discrimination.

Adverse Action

If the background check results cause the employer to:

Not hire an applicant

Terminate an employee

Take the decision not to promote or adversely impact an applicant or employee in anyway, you must comply with the adverse action procedures.

For adverse action, the employer must take the following three steps before taking any adverse action:

1. Provide the applicant with:A Preliminary Notice Of Adverse Action

2. Provide the individual a copy of their report and a copy of the Summary of Your Rights Under the FCRA (PDF reader required).

For an example of a preliminary Notice Of Adverse Action   Click Here

3. If, after a reasonable period of time the applicant does not respond to or dispute the report in the   preliminary notice of Adverse Action, the decision is made to not hire the applicant
Then, the employer must provide the applicant with a Final Notice Of Adverse Action.

For an example  of a  Final Notice Of Adverse Action  Click Here

The final notice of adverse action must include contact information for the consumer reporting agency (CRA)

that provided the report, and a statement that the CRA (Credit Reporting Agency such as Nationalemployment Screening) cannot explain why the adverse action was taken.

You must notify them they have the right to dispute the facts in the report, and that they are entitled to an additional free copy of their report from the CRA for the next 60 days.

Our Automated Employment Screening provides an applicant controlled process that allows
FCRA compliant background check forms, including Electronic Chain-Of-custody  forms 
and  releases to be completed online by the applicant.

We provide several short    videos    to  easily acquaint you with the system.

This really does make the background check process fast and easy.

Please    Click   or call for more information.

Disclaimer
None of the information contained in this web site should be construed as legal advice.
All forms, policies, information and procedures should be reviewed by your legal counsel before being used in any way.