EMPLOYMENT BACKGROUND CHECKS

Employment Screening Background Check Services In Ohio

All employment screening services  including pre-employment drug screening and pre-employment criminal record background checks   are available in Ohio.

National Employment Screening provides professional pre employment screening services to Ohio employers to help you protect your employees, business and clients from the costly effects of making a “Bad Hire.”

Our criminal records Smart Search Plus®  has become the industry standard for a quality criminal records background check.

It includes an unlimited check of the Federal criminal records repositories in the states where the applicant has lived for the past 7 years.

It also includes a check of any needed state and county criminal records checks as well as a social security number address history trace, a multi-state criminal records database search and a check of of the sex offender registry in all 50 states.

It is the criminal records background check now chosen by most of our clients. For a brief overview of all of our employment screening services, please Click Here

Arrest

Employers cannot question an applicant about an expunged juvenile arrest record. Ohio Rev. Code Ann. 

2151.358(I). Additionally, the Ohio Civil Rights Commission’s Pre-Employment Inquiry Guide cautions that employers should avoid any inquiry that would reveal an arrest without a conviction.

Conviction:

Employers may not question applicants about sealed convictions unless the question bears a direct and substantial relationship to the position for which the person is being considered. Ohio Rev. Code Ann. §§ 2953.32, 295

3.33,

2953.55. The Ohio Civil Rights Commission’s Pre-Employment Inquiry Guide states that employers may ask about specific crimes related to qualifications for a particular job.

Arrest or conviction for a minor misdemeanor violation in regards to marijuana does not constitute a criminal record and need not be reported by the person so arrested or convicted in response to any inquiries about the person’s criminal record including any inquiries contained in an application for employment.

Ohio Rev.

Code Ann. §2925.04.

Ohio employment screening law:

Giving Employment References in Ohio

The Ohio legislature has provided the following protection to employers who give accurate employment references:

At the request of the employee or former employee, an employer may disclose information regarding the employee’s job performance to a prospective employer and retain immunity from civil liability as long as the employer does provide false information and the employer has no knowledge of its falsity or acted with malice or reckless disregard for the truth. (OH Rev Code §4113.71)

This statute is re-printed below for your convenience.

4113.71 Immunity of employer as to job performance information disclosures.

(A) As used in this section:

(1) “Employee” means an individual currently or formerly employed by an employer.

(2) “Employer” means the state, any political subdivision of the state, any person employing one or more individuals in this state, and any person directly or indirectly acting in the interest of the state, political subdivision, or such person.

(3) “Political subdivision” and “state” have the same meanings as in section 2744.01 of the Revised Code.

(B) An employer who is requested by an employee or a prospective employer of an employee to disclose to a prospective employer of that employee information pertaining to the job performance of that employee for the employer and who discloses the requested information to the prospective employer is not liable in damages in a civil action to that employee, the prospective employer, or any other person for any harm sustained as a proximate result of making the disclosure or of any information disclosed, unless the plaintiff in a civil action establishes, either or both of the following:

(1) By a preponderance of the evidence that the employer disclosed particular information with the knowledge that it was false, with the deliberate intent to mislead the prospective employer or another person, in bad faith, or with malicious purpose;

(2) By a preponderance of the evidence that the disclosure of particular information by the employer constitutes an unlawful discriminatory practice described in section 4112.02, 4112.021, or 4112.022 of the Revised Code.

(C) If the court finds that the verdict of the jury was in favor of the defendant, the court shall determine whether the lawsuit brought under division (B) of this section constituted frivolous conduct as defined in division (A) of section 2323.51 of the Revised Code.

If the court finds by a preponderance of the evidence that the lawsuit constituted frivolous conduct, it may order the plaintiff to pay reasonable attorney’s fees and court costs of the defendant.

(D)(1) This section does not create a new cause of action or substantive legal right against an employer.

(2) This section does not affect any immunities from civil liability or defenses established by another section of the Revised Code or available at common law to which an employer may be entitled under circumstances not covered by this section.

Effective Date: 07-03-1996

Please note that Federal law mandates background checks for employees who are engaged in particular industries. The Office of Inspector General of the Department of Health and Human Services maintains a list of individuals who are excluded from participation in any of its federally-funded healthcare programs.

Exclusions are due to convictions for program-related fraud and patient abuse, licensing board actions and default on health education assistance loans.

Therefore, employers in affected industries should check the OIG Exclusion list before hiring employees who might work in such programs. The FACIS® program is also very important when screening medical personnel. Click Here for more information on FACIS®