eSigning Background Check Made Easy

Esigning background check

[Music] HR basics is a series of short courses designed to highlight what you need to know about a particular human resource management topic in today's HR basics we explore background checks introducing you to what employers and employees need to know about employment related background checks a background check or background investigation is the process of looking up and compiling criminal records of an individual for employment purposes a background check generally involves determining whether an applicant may be unqualified for a position due to a record of a criminal conviction motor vehicle violations or misrepresentation regarding education or work history pre-employment background investigations afford the employer information regarding the candidates background that's essential to sound employment practices according to the Society for Human Resource Management 69 percent of organizations conduct criminal background checks on all job applicants the extent of background check should relate to specific job requirements for example conducting the Department of Motor Vehicles investigation would make sense when hiring a crane operator but it would not be appropriate when hiring an office secretary to better understand background checks we will cover the reasons for doing them legal considerations and how employers should appropriately use the information obtained when making selection decisions employers sometimes want to consider the backgrounds of applicants and employees a background check is often a final step to help ensure a sound hiring decision and protect the employer from potential risks we are going to focus on three primary reasons that employers should perform at least some level of background investigations due diligence and liability job related information and workplace safety let's take a look background checks help realize due diligence and help avoid liability organizations conduct background checks to avoid liability for negligent hiring negligent hiring can occur when employer does not conduct a background check on an employee and that person commits a crime at work similar to a crime he or she committed in the past say you don't run a background check on a person and then hire them as a truck driver one night they get into an accident while on the job and cause a massive car pileup on the highway they're arrested for DUI because you didn't do your due diligence and run a background check to make sure the person was a fit candidate for the truck driver job you could be held liable for the incident background checks give you a more complete picture of your applicant a background check is a reliable way of verifying claims made by jobseekers during the hiring process a background check can help you verify a selection decision and confirm the candidate is the person that you want to hire background checks flagged criminal convictions in an applicant's past an employer deserves to have this information in order to make an educated hiring decision employers are responsible for the employees welfare and the safety of their customers vendors and visitors so run background checks to protect your employees and customers from harm employers conducting background checks need to consider relevant legal guidelines anytime you use an applicant's or employees background information to make an employment decision employers must comply with laws that protect applicants and employees from discrimination and employers use of an individual's criminal history and making employment decisions may in some instances violate the prohibition against employment discrimination under Title 7 of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 employers need also to familiarize themselves with legal guidelines on the state level as they relate to background checks state laws differ as to what potential employers can consider with regards to criminal records reliance on background checks has increased due in part to concerns over charges of negligent hiring and retention the result has been an increase of lawsuits based on negligent hiring negligent hiring as we discussed earlier is a claim made by an injured party against an employer based on the theory that the employer knew or should have known about an employee's background which if known indicates a dangerous or untrustworthy character the only effective defense against charges of negligent hiring is a complete background investigation of all job related facets of an applicant prior to employment some jurisdictions ban the Box laws prohibit asking about any criminal history until a conditional offer of employment has been made a number of states counties and municipalities have some form of a ban the Box law that prohibits employers from asking about criminal history on a job application these laws may say that employers have to wait until after an initial interview to ask about criminal history or after a conditional offer of employment has been made before employers obtain background information they need to understand how the law is enforced by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission EEOC and Federal Trade Commission FTC impact background checks the EEOC is responsible for developing guidelines and overseeing compliance with most of the anti-discrimination laws related to background checks the FTC is responsible for maintaining compliance with the Fair Credit Reporting Act and laws that protect people from discrimination in regards to background checks the most fundamental principle of background checks is to make sure that you're treating everyone equally according to the EEOC it's illegal to check the background of applicants and employees when that decision is based on a person's protected characteristic for example asking only people of a certain race about their financial histories or criminal records is evidence of discrimination guidance to employers by the EEOC discusses disparate treatment and disparate impact analysis under Title 7 disparate treatment is a violation that may occur when an employer treats criminal history information differently for different applicants or employees based on their race or national origin where disparate impact is an employer's neutral policy such as excluding applicants from an employment based on certain criminal conduct that may Dysport Lee impact protected individuals national data supports a finding that a criminal record exclusion has disparate impact based on race and national origin any background information you receive and use must not discriminate against any employee this means that you should apply the same standards to everyone regardless of their protected class take special care when basing employment decisions on background problems that may be more common among people of a protected class and be prepared to make situational decisions regarding a background check avoiding bright-line rules employers performing background checks may attempt to complete the search internally however it's advised that employers use a third party vendor businesses that sell criminal history information to employers are considered consumer reporting agencies under the Fair Credit Reporting Act which is enforced by the Federal Trade Commission the Fair Credit Reporting Act or FERC grrah governs the acquisition and use of a wide range of background information on applicants and employees through consumer reports a consumer report is a report prepared by a consumer reporting agency that investigates an applicant's or employees credit character reputation personal characteristics or mode of living examples of consumer reports include criminal background investigations Department of Motor Vehicle inquiries and credit history checks the information is gathered and used for employment purposes defined as hiring termination reassignment or promotion if you get background information for example a criminal background report from a company in the business of compiling background information there are additional procedures the FERC requires beforehand first in a standalone notice you must tell the applicant or employee that you might use the information for decisions about his or her employment next get the applicant or employees written permission to do a background check finally you must certify with the vendor that you've notified the applicant and got their permission to run a background check and that you've complied with all of the FIR core requirements when taking adverse action for example not hiring an applicant based on background information the Ferrara has additional requirements before you take an adverse employment action you must give the applicant or employee a notice that includes a copy of the consumer report you relied to make your decision and a copy of a summary of your rights under the Fair Credit Reporting Act which you should have received from the company that sold you the report by giving the person notice in advance the person has an opportunity to review the report and explain any negative information after you make an adverse employment decision you must tell the applicant or employee orally in writing or electronically that he or she was rejected because of information in the report the name address and phone number of the company that sold you the report that the company selling the report didn't make the hiring decision and didn't give specific reasons for it and that he or she has the right to dispute the accuracy or completeness of the report and to get an additional free copy of the report from the reporting company within 60 days when conducting background checks an employer is obligated to use the information fairly inequitably employers use criminal history information in ongoing efforts to combat theft and fraud as well as heightened concerns about workplace violence and potential liability for negligent hiring employers also cite federal laws as well as state and local laws as reasons for using criminal background checks the EEOC discourages employers from considering arrest records since racial and ethnic minorities are often treated differently at the arrest level the fact of an arrest does not establish that a criminal conduct has occurred and an exclusion based on an arrest in itself is not job-related and consistent with business necessity in contrast a conviction record will usually serve as sufficient evidence that a person engaged in particular conduct criminal convictions have more due process but they're not free from bias racial or other biases may result in prejudice witness statements stereotyped thinking and inconsistencies in the process when making hiring decisions using information obtained through a background check employers should ask is the criminal conviction recent employers should look at how long ago any criminal incident or conduct occurred and its relation to the job and second is it relevant employers should assess the job relatedness of the information they're considering there are three factors relevant to assessing whether an exclusion is job-related for the position in question and consistent with business necessity the green factors provide a starting point for analyzing how specific criminal conduct may be linked to a particular position the factors are number one the nature and gravity of the offence or conduct number two the time that's passed since the offence the conduct or the completion of a sentence and three the nature of the job held or sought after considering these three factors employers must make an individualized assessment a case-by-case decision for each individual conviction relevant individual evidence includes for example the facts or circumstances surrounding the offense or conduct the number of offenses which the individual was convicted for and rehabilitation efforts so after all this discussion of the importance of background checks why would employers want to give a second chance to a worker with a criminal history because 65 million working-age Americans have some kind of criminal records and to address labor shortages due to an aging population and an unavailability of skilled worker to avoid discrimination claims to reinforce fairness and culture and to reduce the social costs of recidivism employment selection processes are lawn sometimes stressful and expensive from reviewing applicants to interviewing candidates these processes take a lot of time and resources employers want to make sure that they hire the right person which means being thorough is possible by including background checks in selection processes [Music]