企业必须为其员工和客户提供安全的环境，并保护公司的利益。
无论您是招聘员工、与独立承包商合作还是招募志愿者，背景调查都可以帮助确保您拥有合适的人选——而拥有合适的人选可以影响您组织的成功和社区的安全。
最终，背景调查可帮助您筛选出危险人物，并帮助您的企业留住可能的最佳候选人。
近年来，有关雇主背景调查程序的法律格局发生了巨大变化。当谈到雇主如何正确获取美国的犯罪背景历史时，《公平信用报告法》适用。
此外，由于雇主何时可以向候选人或雇员询问他们的犯罪背景，因此州和地方禁令可能适用。最后，在确定雇主如何实际使用背景调查返回的犯罪历史信息时，EEOC 的犯罪历史指南分析了 1964 年民权法案第七章和一些州法律。
因此，雇主在正确实施犯罪背景调查程序时面临着严重的困惑。特别是对于在短时间内做出决策的中小型企业而言，做出正确的招聘决定对于成功至关重要。那么，你从哪里开始呢？
以下是可以帮助您入门的四个最佳实践。
首先，雇主必须决定是否审查申请人的犯罪历史，然后制定书面政策，记录他们评估犯罪历史的过程。这种分析包括确定哪些信念与哪些职位相关以及持续多长时间——这意味着对整个公司采取一刀切的政策可能并不明智。在此期间，雇主应考虑是否使用招聘矩阵作为指导筛选候选人，实施哪种类型的个性化评估程序，以及如何分析未决逮捕（因为未定罪的非未决逮捕可能被 EEOC 视为违反了第七章）。
其次，雇主应聘请背景审查公司。背景调查应该准确、全面、一致、及时，当然还应该合法。如果您依赖第三方进行背景调查，则您必须遵守联邦公平信用报告法 (FCRA) 和适用的州消费者报告法。
第三，根据 FCRA，公司必须确保，在进行犯罪背景调查之前，他们有一个可允许的目的，并且候选人 (i) 知道正在进行背景调查，(ii) 同意进行背景调查进行了检查，并且 (iii) 收到通知，告知背景调查报告中包含的信息可能会导致不利的雇佣决定。在收到犯罪背景调查结果后，如果返回不利信息，雇主必须向候选人提供不利行动前通知，其中包括某些文件（他们的报告副本和候选人在 FCRA 下的权利摘要以及任何适用的州法律通知），给候选人并等待一段时间，最好至少 5 个工作日，以便候选人在采取不利行动之前可以根据需要与背景审查公司对报告的准确性或完整性提出异议，然后跟进不利行动通知（如果适用）。
最后，在全国范围内越来越流行的趋势是禁止雇主在求职申请中询问候选人的犯罪历史。因此，雇主必须遵守州和地方禁令的法律，这些法律规定雇主何时可以询问犯罪历史，有时还可以询问如何使用这些信息。例如，夏威夷、华盛顿特区、马里兰州巴尔的摩和新泽西州纽瓦克的雇主在向候选人提供有条件的就业机会之前不能查询犯罪记录。此外，禁止框法可能仅适用于以下雇主一定的规模——这些阈值因州而异。
鉴于适用的联邦和州法律众多，雇主应咨询其律师以审查其背景筛选流程和程序。
Whether you are hiring employees, working with independent contractors, or engaging volunteers, background checks can help make sure you have the right people — and having the right people can impact your organization’s success and the safety of your communities.
Ultimately, background checks help you screen out dangerous individuals, and assist your business in retaining the best possible candidates.
In recent years, the legal landscape regarding employers’ background check procedures has shifted dramatically. When it comes to how employers properly obtain criminal background history in the U.S., the Fair Credit Reporting Act applies.
Additionally, as it relates to when employers can ask candidates or employees about their criminal backgrounds, state and local ban the box laws may apply. Finally, the EEOC’s criminal history guidance analyzing Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and some state laws, apply when determining how employers can actually use the criminal history information returned by a background check.
As a result, employers face significant confusion when it comes to properly implementing a criminal background check process. Especially for small or medium businesses, where decisions are made on short timeframes, making the right hiring decision is vital to success. So, where do you begin?
Here are four best practices that can help you get started.
First, employers must decide whether to review an applicant’s criminal history and then create a written policy documenting their process for assessing criminal history.This analysis includes determining what convictions are relevant to what positions, and for how long — meaning a one size fits all policy for an entire company may not be wise.During this time, employers should consider whether to use a hiring matrix as a guide for screening out candidates, what type of individualized assessment process to implement, and how to analyze pending arrests (as non-pending arrests that did not result in a conviction may be viewed by the EEOC as a violation of Title VII).
Second, employers should engage a background screening company.A background check should be accurate, comprehensive, consistent, timely and, of course, legal. If you rely on a third party to run your background checks, then you must comply with the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) and applicable state consumer reporting laws.
Third, under the FCRA, companies must ensure that, in part, before running a criminal background check they have a permissible purpose and that, a candidate (i) knows that a background check is being conducted, (ii) consents to having a background check conducted, and (iii) is provided notification that information contained in the background check report may result in an adverse employment decision.After receiving the criminal background check results, if adverse information is returned, an employer must provide a pre-adverse action notice to the candidate, with certain documents included (a copy of their report and a summary of the candidate’s rights under the FCRA and any applicable state law notices), to the candidate and wait a certain period of time, preferably 5 business days at minimum, so that the candidate can dispute the accuracy or completeness of the report as needed with the background screening company before taking an adverse action, and then follow up with an adverse action notification if applicable.
Finally, a trend that is gaining momentum across the country is to prohibit employers from asking about a candidate’s criminal history on an employment application.As a result, employers must comply with state and local ban the box laws, which govern when employers can ask about criminal history, and sometimes, how the information can be used. For example, an employer in Hawaii, Washington, DC, Baltimore, MD and Newark, NJ cannot inquire about criminal history until after it has extended a conditional employment offer to the candidate.Moreover, the ban the box laws may only apply to employers of a certain size — and those thresholds differ by state.
Given the myriad of applicable federal and state laws, employers should consult their attorneys to review their background screening processes and procedures.
