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In order to do a complete and comprehensive background check for potential employees, most companies request Social Security Numbers (SSN.)
But what happens if an applicant refuses to disclose their SSN?
It’s important that your company have a policy in place regarding SSN Disclosure. Depending on whether your company is hiring employees or volunteers, your policy may differ.
For employees—there is no way around SSN Disclosure. Providing a Social Security Number is an important step in the background check process. It provides information that Name and Date of Birth simply would not. And according to the Federal Privacy Act of 1974, companies are allowed to require SSN disclosure for various reasons. There are no legal protections that allow applicants to refuse to provide their SSN.
For volunteers—it can depend on your company’s views. It is not 100% necessary to require your volunteers to disclose. However, like we stated above, Social Security Numbers give you access to information about potential volunteers that you may need. If you do not require volunteers to disclose you cannot, however, obtain certain types of reports, e.g. Social Security Number Trace Reports, some County Criminal Reports, etc. A lot of reports just simply cannot be run without SSNs.
For potential employees, it is not “illegal” to require them to disclose their SSN. And in order to protect your business and employees, it is necessary. For potential volunteers, it will depend on your company’s policy and which type of reports you want to run.
Background checks can be tricky and with so many laws and regulations it can be hard to keep track. The best response to an applicant not disclosing their SSN, is to follow your company’s policy and consult with a company lawyer. And since an applicant’s Social Security Number is not protected under current law, it can be required.
NOTE: The contents of this article are not legal advice for your particular situation. You should neither act nor rely upon anything stated in this article without first consulting your own legal counsel.
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Creating a background screening program for a nonprofit organization can be rather difficult. Organizations are constantly walking on a tightrope, with budgeting on one side and a proper high due diligence background check on the other. However, developing a background check program that is a happy compromise between the two is not impossible.
One of the first things to consider is if your state has special policies or requirements for their statewide background screening program. Some states require the running of a statewide check, and many provide background screening services free for nonprofits. As an example, Michigan provides a service called iChat, which is a statewide criminal history report, free to nonprofits. These reports can provide a high level of due diligence while still maintaining your budget for other paid screenings.
Not All State Repositories Are Created Equal
Even a nonprofit that qualifies to receive a free statewide report should still consider running other background checks to help provide more detail. It’s important to note that criminal records and sex offender registries are not reported across state lines. State background check reports, including fingerprint based state reports, may be missing other criminal records as well.
This happens because the crimes are tried at the county level. Records can be missed because counties are not required to report all records, and that is especially true depending upon the type of offense.
Human error also plays a part. In the case of fingerprint background checks, some records such as misdemeanor drug offenses, public intoxication and disorderly conduct, can be missed simply because the crime is a ticket offense in that area and doesn’t require being fingerprinted.
A Proper Process Starts With A Residence History
The best way to prevent these criminal records from falling through the cracks is to not depend solely on fingerprint or state background checks. A county criminal history report based on residence history shows the highest level of due diligence possible. SELECTiON.COM® recommends utilizing a Social Security Number (SSN) Trace Report to identify counties where an applicant has previously lived.
The possible downside of this county level approach, is allocating too much of your budget on your background screening process. That is where the dilemma comes in. Do you run a high-level background screening report while your budget suffers, run a lower level report to save or few dollars, or worst of all no program at all?
The Answer Is Fairly Simple
No matter the size of the search process, every company needs to have a background screening program in place to mitigate your liability. However, always be certain to do your research before deciding on a specific report.
Many nonprofits decide to run a SSN Trace Report along with a National Criminal Database search as a supplement to their free statewide search, because it fits into their budget and they still get coverage in those outlying areas where criminal records on their applicants or volunteers may be hiding.
At SELECTiON.COM® our proprietary Search America® report is the largest National Criminal Database in the United States, with over 650 Million records from over 1,100 sources. It’s a multi-jurisdictional search of criminal record databases and Government Watch lists that includes correction records and Sex Offender registries from all 50 states. With this compiled database, we can help to keep your costs low and your coverage level high while providing a quality report.
Contact us today to see how SELECTiON.COM® can take your employment background check process to the next level.
NOTE: The contents of this article are not legal advice for your particular situation. You should neither act nor rely upon anything stated in this article without first consulting your own legal counsel.
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Employers who decide to implement a background screening process for job applicants, or engage the services of a third party to do it for them, will immediately discover an assortment of challenging and involved statutes, laws, and regulations.
State Regulations
Care must be taken when choosing not to hire based on background check results. The following states have “job relatedness” requirements for the use of criminal history: WI, NY, PA, HI, MO, KS, and Puerto Rico. Criminal histories must be shown to have a detrimental effect on an applicant’s ability to perform the job if they’re used as a dis-qualifier.
Disparate Impact
Even a perceived neutral policy can have an adverse / disparate impact on certain protected groups. Title VII Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits employers from using neutral tests or selection procedures that have the effect of disproportionately excluding persons based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin, where the tests or selection procedures are not “job-related and consistent with business necessity.” This is called “disparate impact” discrimination.
Job Relatedness/Business Necessity
The EEOC has given more detail about each factor to be considered when hiring based on a background check. The nature and gravity of the offense is to include the harm caused, the legal elements of the crime and the classification (misdemeanor vs. felony). Time since the conviction and/or completion of the sentence is to include evaluation of recidivism. The nature of the job is more than just job title; evaluation of specific duties, essential functions, and environment all need to be considered.
The argument is that people of certain races and national origins are arrested more frequently than others outside of those groups and/or have negative credit information; that information then causes a disparate impact on certain minority groups when used by employers.
SELECTiON.COM® provides the comprehensive and customizable screening solutions needed to navigate the legal aspects of background screening. We stay up-to-date with all EEOC and FCRA regulations and provide you with all of the forms you need on our proprietary system, Fastrax Select®. Our system allows employers to stay compliant and provides clients with the ability to follow the background check process from start to finish. Our Applicant Entry system will obtain accurate information straight from the applicant, as well as an electronic release form. The one-click FCRA notification system makes the FCRA compliance a breeze.
Contact us today to see how SELECTiON.COM® can take your employment background check process to the next level.
NOTE: The contents of this article are not legal advice for your particular situation. You should neither act nor rely upon anything stated in this article without first consulting your own legal counsel.
Blog
By Tom Wright
October 7, 2016
One of the toughest problems people face in Human Resources is finding, hiring and integrating new quality employees. A background check is an essential part of that process, but how you go about it makes a big difference in the type of employees you bring in. There are also regulations that must be adhered to, or one small misstep could open your company up to unwanted lawsuits. So, before taking the leap into background checks, it is important take the time to consider what you want to find out and how you should go about doing it.
Regulation Compliance
Before the background check can be performed, several items need to be completed. First, you will need the applicant to fill out release forms. If you choose not to hire the person because of anything on the background check, you must stay compliant with the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA). That consists of sending pre-decision and adverse action letters, as well as a copy of their consumer rights.
SELECTiON.COM® provides all of the necessary paperwork that needs to be completed to stay compliant on our website. With one click of your mouse you can also stay compliant with the FCRA. SELECTiON.COM® provides a convenient, easy to use website that provides everything you need for you background screening program.
Is The Applicant Qualified?
Inc.com listed hiring as the number one problem facing businesses today. The article also states “According to one estimate, the total cost of onboarding — taxes, benefits, equipment, training, bonuses, etc. — can range from 1.5 times to 3 times the salary of the position.” So, making sure you hire the right person is financially important. No one wants to find out 6 months into a hire that they never received that Bachelor Degree. And you certainly don’t want to find out that have a habit of quitting jobs with no notice a few months in.
SELECTiON.COM® can help prevent these types of bad hires. Our employment and education verifications not only verify work and education history but include the types of questions that help you decide if it is a quality candidate. Some companies will only provide dates of hire and title, but many that we call will provide more info if you just ask the right questions. For example: How was the employee’s attendance? Are they eligible for rehire? The answers to these questions can indicate whether or not the individual will be a good fit for your organization. We even have a Character Reference report that goes into much more detail.
Where To Start
Many applications ask where you have lived or if you have committed any felonies. These applications often rely on the applicant’s honesty and the information isn’t always accurate. Many criminals leave the state or try to hide the past offenses by providing false names, addresses and the like on their applications to avoid detection.
SELECTiON.COM® will not only validate the SSN, but the report will also identify residence history. The applicant may say they have only lived in Ohio. But through the SSN trace you may find out that they have been traveling and moving state to state. This alone could help flag or determine a bad hire before the problem exists. Relying on an applicant’s honestly can be very costly. The SSN Trace is a great tool to identify what counties you should be looking in for criminal records.
Don’t Depend On One “National” Search
In today’s market businesses are continuously trying to improve the bottom line, so it’s only natural to scale down and just run a single National Criminal Database Search right? After all, it is checking the WHOLE country isn’t it? WRONG. The answer is no, there is not a criminal database search that checks every single county in the entire country. The fact is that every database is different what is contained within varies depending on the different sources.
At SELECTiON.COM® we always recommend a combined approach. Our proprietary Search America® National Criminal Database is the largest of its kind. Search America® contains roughly 1,100 sources with over 650 million criminal records. Combine this national search with a targeted criminal county search using the SSN Trace Report above, and you will receive a much more clear and detailed view of your applicant’s criminal history.
Can You Save Time With an Integration?
Every business like tasks done quickly and for programs to be streamlined and integrated. There’s no exception when it comes to Human Resources. In fact, it has become essential for many companies and organizations to perform background checks through their payroll or applicant tracking systems in order to expedite multiple processes at once.
SELECTiON.COM® has an in house IT department that can facilitate every need you may have. We have performed integrations with businesses across the country. Including but not limited to Virtus, Taleo, UltiPro, Catholic Mutual Group, etc. These integrations have helped SELECTiON.COM® save our clients hundreds of thousands of dollars by streamlining the process. Not only that, but we offer access to our own applicant tracking system, which saves a considerable amount of time for many of our clients, at no additional cost.
SELECTiON.COM® has solutions for all of the above challenges, and more. Customer service representatives at SELECTiON.COM® have a tenure of 7.5 years in the industry. Our entire team is accessible by phone or email and LIVE help via an online chat portal is available M-F, 8:00 AM to 8:00 PM (EST). Our Verification Specialists and IT Department are in-house and easy to reach.
Contact SELECTiON.COM® today for your customized background screening solution.
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On June 8, 2016 Ohio’s Governor signed a plan to legalize medical marijuana into law. This made Ohio the 25th state to approve its use. The bill became effective 90 days later on September 6, 2016. Ohioans will not be able to purchase medical marijuana in state, however, until 2017 or early 2018 after the Department of Commerce creates rules for those who will grow and dispense the drug and doctors obtain certificates from the Ohio State Medical Association to prescribe medical marijuana.
What kind of marijuana can be used?
Under Ohio’s law, it is still illegal to smoke marijuana even if purchased out of state. On the other hand, vaporizers, edibles and oils are OK. Recreational use of marijuana continues to be illegal.
What medical conditions will qualify?
Medical marijuana can be used for AIDS, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, Alzheimer’s disease, cancer, chronic traumatic encephalopathy, Crohn’s disease, epilepsy or other seizure disorders, fibromyalgia, glaucoma, hepatitis C, inflammatory bowel disease, multiple sclerosis, pain that is either chronic and severe or intractable, Parkinson’s disease, positive status for HIV, post-traumatic stress disorder, sickle cell anemia, spinal cord disease or injury, Tourette’s Syndrome, traumatic brain injury and ulcerative colitis.
Who will grow marijuana?
No one may grow medical marijuana at home or for personal use. People who want to grow medical marijuana commercially must apply to the Ohio Department of Commerce. They cannot grow marijuana within 500 feet of a school, public playground, church, public park or public library. People with certain criminal convictions are disqualified from growing marijuana.
Who can recommend its use?
Physicians who are certified by the Ohio State Medical Association are the only ones who can make that call. They could be disqualified from certification if they have a financial interest in growing marijuana, have lost their license to practice medicine, or have been convicted of certain crimes. Before recommending medical marijuana, doctors must attend at least 2 hours of training in diagnosing and treating conditions with it.
Can I be fired from work for using medical marijuana?
Yes, despite opposition from some in Ohio, the law allows employers to fire employees who violate office policies against marijuana use – even if the marijuana was recommended by a physician. If fired for marijuana use, a person will not receive unemployment compensation.
Can Ohioans still vote on medical marijuana in November 2016?
Several groups were interested in placing a marijuana proposal on the November 2016 ballot. Each group decided, however, against doing it. The effort was too costly and unpredictable in this presidential election year. The reality is that raising funds for medical marijuana policy changes became incredibly difficult especially given the improvements made by the Ohio General Assembly and the fact that Ohio’s Governor signed the bill.
NOTE: The contents of this article are not legal advice for your particular situation. You should neither act nor rely upon anything stated in this article without first consulting your own legal counsel.
Thomas A. Coz
Vice President of Legal & Compliance
