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Articles Posted in Background Checks
GOTCHA! You won’t believe how one company unraveled an employee’s ‘flat tire’ absence excuse
Image Credit: @sydneyywhitson on Twitter
Fair warning, this post is more about pettiness than employment law. Continue reading
Six million reasons to remember that the EEOC continues to take your company’s background checks seriously
On April 25, 2012, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) issued its Enforcement Guidance on the Consideration of Arrest and Conviction Records in Employment Decisions Under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
The EEOC believes that the use of criminal record history and other background checks can have a disparate impact by disproportionately screening out certain minorities without any business-related need.
After several potholes and speedbumps trying to enforce its guidance in the courtroom against employer-defendants, the EEOC has finally won a big race. Continue reading
Three strikes and the EEOC guidance on background checks is out (or close to it).
Image by tigerlily713 from Pixabay
In 2012, the EEOC issued its Enforcement Guidance on the Consideration of Arrest and Conviction Records in Employment Decisions Under Title VII. The purpose of the Guidance was to help eliminate barriers in recruitment and hiring to ensure that companies running these background checks weren’t disparately impacting minorities.
Although well-intentioned, in practice, courts did not receive the Guidance well. Continue reading
Three employment law lessons from Harvard University’s decision to revoke the admission of a Parkland shooting survivor
Joseph Williams [CC BY 2.0], via Wikimedia Commons
For something the school just learned that he did two years ago. Continue reading
I’m going to blow your mind with this Fair Credit Reporting Act bombshell
Vincent Le Moign [CC BY 4.0]
For those of you who aren’t familiar with FCRA, I suggest that you call an employment lawyer. Like stop reading this blog post right now and call your employment lawyer!
For the rest of you FCRA fans, I promised to blow your mind and, clickbait-be-damned, I’m going to break your strand of clutching pearls. Continue reading
What have I done? For the love of Fair Credit Reporting Act!!!
Image Credit: Pexels.com (https://www.pexels.com/photo/bed-bedroom-room-furniture-2705/)
Last night, I had trouble sleeping. Continue reading
What HR needs to know about blockchain. Or, put another way, HR needs to know about blockchain.
Image Credit: Pixabay.com (https://pixabay.com/en/blockchain-block-chain-technology-3019120/)
You’ve heard of the blockchain, right?
But, if I asked you to explain it to me, half you would say, “Yeah, dude. Bitcoin.” The other half, well, I’m thinking I’d get something like this…
Don’t worry.
In this post, I’m going to turn you into a blockchain expert. Or, at least expert enough to hold a blockchain conversation during a 30-second elevator ride.
Heck, I’ll even share some HR applications to make you the envy of all your friends at the next local SHRM Chapter meeting. Continue reading
I’m gonna throw a little employment law at this Matt Patricia – Detroit Lions Sexual Assault saga
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By Governor Tom Wolf from Harrisburg, PA [CC BY 2.0], via Wikimedia Commons
Maybe, Lions ownership missed Super Bowl LII and the 41 points that the Philadelphia Eagles dropped on Mr. Patricia’s garbage Patriots defense.
Oh, sorry.
The Philadelphia Eagles Super Bowl LII victory over the New England Patriots, which gave the Eagles one more Super Bowl win (1) than the Dallas Cowboys have total playoff wins in the last 20 years (0), is not the point of this post.
The point is that, on Wednesday, Robert Snell of the Detroit News reported (here) that Mr. Patricia was indicted for aggravated sexual assault in 1996, something missed in the Lions background check.
And the real question is… Continue reading
New Jersey just strengthened its ban the box rules
Back in August 2014, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie signed “The Opportunity to Compete Act”, also known as Ban the Box. This made it unlawful for companies with 15 or more employees to advertise that people with criminal records need to apply. Covered companies also cannot inquire about criminal history, from the time an applicant inquires about an opening until the first job interview is completed.
Last month, Governor Christie affixed his signature to bipartisan legislation, which closes some loopholes in the law:
Now, the law is clear that online inquiries into an applicant’s criminal history are forbidden. Also, to the extent that employers were asking about expunged criminal records, well, those are now off limits too.