Blog, Resources
In the ever-evolving landscape of employment law, staying updated with the latest regulations is crucial for employers conducting pre-employment background checks. With new laws and guidelines emerging in 2024, understanding these changes can help businesses remain compliant and avoid potential legal pitfalls. This article highlights the most recent legal updates affecting pre-employment background checks.
1. Cannabis Use and Drug Testing
Several states have introduced new laws affecting how employers handle cannabis use and drug testing in pre-employment screenings. In California, AB 2188 and SB 700, effective January 1, 2024, make it unlawful for employers to discriminate against employees for off-duty cannabis use or for positive drug tests that detect non-psychoactive cannabis metabolites (National Law Review) (Hiring To Firing Law Blog). Washington has implemented similar regulations, restricting employers from making hiring decisions based on off-duty cannabis use or drug test results that show non-psychoactive cannabis metabolites (National Law Review).
2. Clean Slate Laws
Clean Slate laws, which aim to automatically expunge certain criminal records, are gaining traction to help reduce employment barriers for ex-offenders. States such as California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, and New York are implementing or expanding Clean Slate laws in 2024, enabling courts to automatically clear eligible criminal records after a specified period (National Law Review) (Hiring To Firing Law Blog). These laws differ from “Ban the Box” laws by completely removing certain criminal records to aid fair chance hiring (CIPD).
3. Form I-9 Changes
The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has introduced a simplified Form I-9 for verifying employee eligibility to work in the U.S. Employers using E-Verify can now review documents remotely via video call, a significant change from the previous requirement of physical document examination (California Labor Law). This update aims to streamline the compliance process for employers.
4. EEOC Guidance on AI in Hiring
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has released updated guidance on the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in employment decisions. This guidance, issued in May 2023, addresses potential biases and ensures compliance with Title VII of the Civil Rights Act (Venable LLP). Employers are encouraged to evaluate AI systems to avoid unintentional discrimination and adhere to the new regulations.
5. Updated FCRA Summary of Rights
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has updated the “Summary of Your Rights Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act” form, which employers must use from March 20, 2024 (Venable LLP). This update includes changes to federal agency contact information, ensuring that the form remains current and informative for applicants.
Staying compliant with the latest legal updates in pre-employment background checks is essential for all employers. With new regulations on cannabis use, Clean Slate laws, Form I-9 procedures, AI in hiring, and FCRA guidelines, navigating these changes can be challenging. By partnering with SELECTiON.COM®, employers are equipped with the necessary tools to ensure their background check processes are accurate. It is important to emphasize that SELECTiON.COM® does not provide legal advice or services that enhance the legal standing of employers’ processes.
For more information on how SELECTiON.COM® can assist with your background check needs, visit our website or contact us today.
This article gives a general overview of legal matters. However, it is your responsibility to ensure compliance with all the relevant federal, state, and local laws governing this area. SELECTiON.COM® does not provide legal advice, and we always suggest consulting your legal counsel for all applicant approval matters.
This article is provided for information purposes only, and the contents hereof are subject to change without notice. This article is not warranted to be error-free nor subject to any other warranties or conditions, whether expressed orally or implied in law, including implied warranties and conditions of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose.
Blog
In the ever-evolving landscape of hiring practices, ensuring the safety and integrity of the workplace has never been more crucial. Background checks have become a standard procedure for employers aiming to verify the credentials and history of potential employees. However, not all background checks are created equal. While statewide background checks are a common tool, they come with significant limitations that can lead to missed criminal records. Here’s why relying solely on statewide background checks can be a risky move for your business.
Incomplete Coverage Across States
Statewide background checks, as the name suggests, compile criminal records from various counties and jurisdictions within a particular state. The assumption is that this provides a comprehensive overview of an individual’s criminal history within that state. However, the reality is often different. Criminal records are not always consistently reported across all counties within a state. Smaller or rural counties might have limited resources, leading to delays or omissions in their reporting. This patchwork coverage can result in significant gaps and missing critical information about an applicant’s past.
Variability in Reporting Standards
Another critical issue with statewide background checks is the lack of uniform reporting standards across states. Each state has its regulations and practices regarding what information is collected, how it is maintained, and the duration for which it is kept. This variability means that some states might have more comprehensive and up-to-date records, while others lag behind. Relying solely on statewide checks can create blind spots, especially if an applicant has lived in multiple states with varying reporting standards.
Mobility of Individuals
In today’s globalized world, people frequently move across state lines for work, education, or personal reasons. An individual with a criminal record in one state might relocate to another state, where their history remains undisclosed in a statewide check. Employers relying solely on statewide background checks risk overlooking criminal activities that occurred outside the state. This can be particularly problematic for businesses operating in sectors requiring high trust and security levels, such as finance, healthcare, and education.
Lack of Real-Time Updates
Statewide background checks are often not updated in real-time. There can be significant delays between when a criminal record is created and when it appears in the statewide database. During this lag time, an individual with a recent criminal history could pass a background check undetected. This delay can expose employers to unforeseen risks, especially if the position being filled involves sensitive responsibilities or access to vulnerable populations.
Limited Scope of Information
While statewide background checks can provide valuable insights, they often focus primarily on felony and serious misdemeanor records. Lesser offenses, which can still be relevant to an employer’s decision-making process, might not be included. Additionally, non-criminal records such as restraining orders, civil lawsuits, or infractions might not be captured in a statewide check. Employers need a comprehensive view of an applicant’s background to make informed hiring decisions, and statewide checks alone may not provide this.
The Solution: Comprehensive Background Checks
To mitigate the risks associated with the limitations of statewide background checks, employers should consider more comprehensive screening options. Here are a few recommendations:
- National Criminal Database Checks
National criminal database checks aggregate records from multiple states, counties, and federal jurisdictions, offering a broader perspective on an applicant’s history. These checks can fill in the gaps left by statewide checks, providing a more complete picture.
Federal criminal checks include offenses prosecuted at the federal level, such as crimes crossing state lines or involving federal agencies. These checks are crucial for positions involving significant trust or responsibility.
- County Based Multi-Jurisdictional Checks
Conducting checks across multiple county jurisdictions ensures that records from various locations where the applicant has lived, worked, or studied are considered. This approach minimizes the risk of missing critical information.
Implementing continuous monitoring services allows employers to receive real-time updates on employees’ criminal activities. This proactive approach helps maintain a safe workplace by identifying potential risks as they arise.
Conclusion
While statewide background checks offer valuable information, they are not foolproof. The limitations of incomplete coverage, variable reporting standards, and lack of real-time updates can result in missed criminal records, posing significant risks to employers. By opting for more comprehensive background check solutions, businesses can enhance their hiring processes, ensuring they make well-informed decisions that prioritize safety and integrity. In the end, investing in thorough background screening is an investment in your organization’s future success and security.
How SELECTiON.COM® Can Help
At SELECTiON.COM®, we offer a range of comprehensive background check solutions designed to address all these concerns. Our services include national criminal database checks, federal criminal checks, county-based multi-jurisdictional checks, continuous monitoring, and much more. We are committed to staying compliant with FCRA and CFPB guidelines and providing the tools necessary to help our clients maintain compliance as well. Contact us today to learn how we can support your company.
Blog, Resources
In the modern era of hiring, Artificial Intelligence (AI) has emerged as a powerful tool, promising to revolutionize the recruitment process with its efficiency, precision, and innovation. However, as organizations increasingly turn to AI for conducting background checks, it’s essential to recognize and address the legal risks and challenges associated with its use.
The Promise of AI in Hiring
AI offers a multitude of benefits in the realm of background checks. By automating repetitive tasks and analyzing vast amounts of data, AI-driven solutions can streamline the screening process, identify relevant information, and generate comprehensive reports with unprecedented speed and accuracy. Moreover, AI algorithms can help mitigate bias and improve the overall fairness of hiring decisions by focusing solely on relevant criteria and removing human subjectivity from the equation.
Legal Challenges and Concerns
Despite its promise, the use of AI in background checks presents a host of legal risks and challenges that organizations must navigate carefully. One of the primary concerns is compliance with relevant regulations, such as the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) in the United States. The FCRA imposes strict requirements on the use of consumer reports for employment purposes, including obtaining consent from the candidate, providing disclosure and transparency, and ensuring accuracy and fairness in the reporting process.
AI-driven background check solutions must adhere to these legal requirements to avoid potential violations and associated legal consequences. For example, if an AI algorithm generates inaccurate or biased results that adversely affect a candidate’s employment prospects, the organization could face allegations of non-compliance with the FCRA and other anti-discrimination laws.
Moreover, the opaque nature of AI algorithms presents challenges in ensuring transparency and accountability in the background check process. Candidates have the right to know how their information is being collected, used, and evaluated in the hiring process. However, the complexity of AI algorithms makes it difficult to provide clear explanations or insights into the decision-making process, raising concerns about fairness, accountability, and the potential for discrimination.
Practical Solutions
In light of these legal risks and concerns, maintaining human oversight of AI-driven background checks is imperative. While AI algorithms can enhance efficiency and accuracy, human judgment is essential for ensuring compliance with legal regulations and mitigating the potential for bias and discrimination. Human oversight provides a crucial layer of accountability and transparency in the background check process. Organizations can ensure that AI-generated results are scrutinized for accuracy, relevance, and fairness by involving human decision-makers. Human reviewers can also identify and address any potential biases or inaccuracies in the algorithm’s output, helping to minimize the risk of legal liability.
Developing a clear set of guidelines for evaluating AI-generated background check results is crucial. These guidelines should outline the criteria for assessing the relevance, accuracy, and fairness of the information obtained through AI algorithms. In the context of criminal records, clear guidelines are particularly important for determining whether specific convictions will disqualify a candidate from employment. Organizations should consider factors such as the nature and severity of the offense, the time elapsed since the conviction, and evidence of rehabilitation. By establishing transparent criteria, organizations can make informed and consistent decisions while also providing opportunities for individuals with criminal records to reintegrate into the workforce.
Organizations must ensure compliance with legal regulations such as the FCRA when using AI-driven background check solutions. This includes obtaining proper consent from candidates, providing disclosure and transparency about the use of AI algorithms, and ensuring accuracy and fairness in the reporting process. Additionally, organizations must be prepared to provide candidates with the necessary notifications as required by the FCRA, including adverse and pre-adverse action letters, to protect candidates’ rights and mitigate the risk of legal liability.
In summary, while AI offers significant potential to revolutionize the background check process, organizations must carefully navigate the legal risks and challenges associated with its use. By maintaining human oversight, developing clear guidelines, and ensuring compliance with relevant regulations, organizations can harness the benefits of AI while mitigating legal risks and promoting fairness and accountability in the hiring process.
Contact us today to see how SELECTiON.COM® can improve your background check process.
This page gives a general overview of legal matters. However, it is your responsibility to ensure compliance with all the relevant federal, state, and local laws governing this area. SELECTiON.COM® does not provide legal advice, and we always suggest consulting your legal counsel for all applicant approval matters.
This page is provided for information purposes only, and the contents hereof are subject to change without notice. This page is not warranted to be error-free nor subject to any other warranties or conditions, whether expressed orally or implied in law, including implied warranties and conditions of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose.
Blog, Careers
The System Administrator’s role is to manage in-house computer software systems, servers, storage devices and network connections to ensure high availability and security of the supported business applications. This individual also participates in the planning and implementation of policies and procedures to ensure system provisioning and maintenance that is consistent with company goals, industry best practices, and regulatory requirements.
ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES
- Manage virtual and physical Windows and Ubuntu Servers
- Manage Active Directory, Microsoft 365
- Manage end user accounts, permissions, access rights, and storage allocations in accordance with best practices
- Familiarity with MS SQL server, windows clustering, domain controller setup, and group policy
- Ensure the security of the server infrastructure by implementing industry best-practices regarding privacy, security, and regulatory compliance.
- Develop and maintain documentation about current environment setup, standard operating procedures, and best practices.
- Perform and test routine system backups and restores.
- Anticipate, mitigate, identify, troubleshoot, and correct hardware and software issues on servers, and workstations. Escalate incidents as necessary.
- Server asset management, including maintenance of server component inventory and related documentation and technical specifications information.
- Recommend, schedule, and perform software and hardware upgrades, patches and re-configurations.
- Develop required reports in response to business user and management needs.
- Manage vendors, outsourcers, and contractors to secure software products and services
- Build and deploy new servers on the network as needed.
- Support NAS and SAN storage management
- Other duties may be assigned
STRATEGY & PLANNING
- Participate in and support capacity planning and the development of long-term strategic goals for systems and software in conjunction with end-users and department managers.
- Coordinate with business application, and database administration functions to implement desktop and server systems that utilize industry best practices to meet corporate objectives.
- Deploy workstations, servers, printers, scanners, firewalls, encryption systems, and appliance security systems.
EDUCATION/EXPERIENCE:
- 3-5 years of experience in a technical role with increasing responsibility. Bachelor Degree in Computer Science preferred or equivalent relevant work experience and/or hardware/software certification(s).
- Thorough understanding of Microsoft applications/infrastructure.
- Ability to communicate effectively with staff and clients.
- Strong documentation/reporting skills.
- Senior level analytical/troubleshooting and organizational skills.
- Capable of resolving critical software and hardware issues in a time sensitive manner, cognizant of requisite service levels.
- Must be fluent with Windows networking, advanced desktop support, and have significant work experience or certifications in the following: Microsoft Active Directory Microsoft Server, Microsoft file and print services, Microsoft Exchange 365, Microsoft Windows 10/11, Microsoft 365, Clustering, Hyper-V, LAN, WAN, TCP/IP, etc. Familiarity with Mac OS (including mobile devices).
- Exposure to Virtual Desktop environments.
- Strong understanding of Network Infrastructure is required. Carbonite Server knowledge is preferred. Linux knowledge preferred.
PHYSICAL DEMANDS: The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.
LOCATION: Hybrid position. Remote work is available but employee will be required to go to the office
An Equal Opportunity Employer – All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, or status as a protected veteran.
Why you should work for SELECTiON.COM®
- 401K
- Incentive/Bonus Program
- Health Insurance
- In-house Company Gym
- Growing Company
- Veteran Owned
Qualified and available candidates please include a detailed resume.
Blog
In today’s competitive business landscape, hiring the right employees is crucial for success. However, the true cost of hiring goes beyond just payroll and benefits. Failing to properly screen applicants for criminal history, signs of violence, or motor vehicle issues can result in significant financial losses and safety risks for your business. Let’s delve into the true cost of background checks and why they are essential for safeguarding your organization.
Retail Theft: According to the National Retail Federation, theft, including shoplifting and employee theft, cost U.S. retailers over $61.7 billion in 2019 alone. A comprehensive background check can help identify candidates with a history of theft-related offenses, reducing the risk of internal and external theft within your organization.
Workplace Violence: Workplace violence is another critical aspect that cannot be ignored. In 2020, the United States witnessed 392 workplace homicides, alongside 37,060 nonfatal injuries caused by intentional harm from another person. These numbers serve as a stark reminder of the potential dangers lurking within the workplace, dangers that could potentially be mitigated through diligent background screenings.
Employee Vehicle Accidents: Motor vehicle accidents involving employees can lead to costly lawsuits, insurance claims, and reputational damage for businesses. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) estimates that motor vehicle crashes cost employers $60 billion annually in medical care, legal expenses, property damage, and lost productivity. Background checks that include driving records help identify candidates with a history of reckless driving or DUI convictions, reducing the likelihood of accidents while on the job.
Drug Use: Substance abuse among employees can result in decreased productivity, absenteeism, workplace accidents, and increased healthcare costs for employers. The National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence (NCADD) reports that drug abuse costs American businesses over $81 billion annually. Pre-employment drug screening as part of a comprehensive background check can help identify candidates with substance abuse issues, allowing employers to make informed hiring decisions and maintain a safe work environment.
By investing in thorough background checks, businesses can mitigate the risks associated with hiring and protect their bottom line. While the upfront cost of background checks may seem significant, it pales in comparison to the potential financial and safety repercussions of hiring unqualified or high-risk individuals. Moreover, background checks demonstrate a commitment to due diligence and the safety of employees and customers, enhancing trust and credibility in the eyes of stakeholders.
To protect your business and ensure a safe working environment, here are some tips for conducting effective background checks:
- Implement a Comprehensive Screening Policy: Define clear guidelines for what your background checks will cover. This can include criminal history, credit checks, verification of education and employment history, and drug testing.
- Use Reputable Screening Services: Partner with a credible background screening provider to ensure the accuracy and legality of the checks you perform.
- Stay Informed about Legal Compliance: Ensure that your screening process complies with federal, state, and local laws to avoid potential legal pitfalls.
- Conduct Periodic Checks: For certain positions, consider conducting periodic background checks to address any issues that may arise after employment.
- Promote a Transparent Process: Communicate with potential hires about the screening process, what it entails, and how the information will be used. This transparency can build trust and deter applicants who may have something to hide.
In conclusion, the true cost of background checks extends beyond monetary expenses to encompass the safety, reputation, and overall well-being of your business. By prioritizing thorough screening procedures, businesses can mitigate the risks of theft, violence, accidents, and substance abuse, ultimately safeguarding their assets and fostering a secure work environment.
Hiring practices are constantly evolving, but in the 30+ years SELECTiON.COM® has been in business, background check usage by companies has been and continues to be on the rise. Background checks are still the most effective way of taking reasonable precautions to create a safe work environment for your employees and minimize costly turnovers. In addition, new reporting methods continue to make background checks more effective and reliable year after year.
Contact us today to see how SELECTiON.COM® can improve your background check process.
This page gives a general overview of legal matters. However, it is your responsibility to ensure compliance with all the relevant federal, state, and local laws governing this area. SELECTiON.COM® does not provide legal advice, and we always suggest consulting your legal counsel for all applicant approval matters.
This page is provided for information purposes only, and the contents hereof are subject to change without notice. This page is not warranted to be error-free nor subject to any other warranties or conditions, whether expressed orally or implied in law, including implied warranties and conditions of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose.
Sources:
National Retail Federation: https://nrf.com/media-center/press-releases/retailers-stem-peak-theft-season-shopping-season-heats
Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA): https://www.osha.gov/workplace-violence
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA): https://www.nhtsa.gov/
National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence (NCADD): https://www.ncadd.org/about-addiction/addiction-update/drug-abuse-costs-america-over-740-billion-per-year
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