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New York City Bans Pre-Employment Testing of Marijuana in 2020

New York City Bans Pre-Employment Testing of Marijuana in 2020

Blog, Resources

New York City will soon prohibit employers from requiring job applicants to submit to testing for the presence of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), which is the active ingredient in marijuana.  

This bill, Introduction No. 1445-A, was approved by the New York City Council on April 9 and was enacted after the 30-day deadline passed without a signature from the mayor. It will go into effect in a year.  

This is the first law of its kind to ban pre-employment testing. While other states have permitted medical or recreational use of marijuana, none have passed laws that ban employers from testing job candidates. The state of New York is among the group of states that have not legalized the recreational use of marijuana, which makes the passage of this bill a bit surprising. 

Introduction No. 1445-A amends the New York City Human Rights Law. It states that “except as otherwise provided by law, it shall be an unlawful discriminatory practice for an employer, labor organization, employment agency, or agent thereof to require a prospective employee to submit to testing for the presence of any tetrahydrocannabinol or marijuana in such prospective employee’s system as a condition of employment.”  

Exceptions

The following exceptions to this law are provided for safety and security sensitive jobs, as well as federal or state contract employees. 

  • Police officers, peace officers or any position with law enforcement 
  • Commercial drivers 
  • Construction or demolition workers 
  • Positions for which testing is mandated under federal law or contract 
  • Positions requiring supervision or care of children, medical patients, and persons with physical or cognitive disabilities 
  • Positions that significantly impact the health and safety of employees or the public 

Employers in New York City should review their policies on pre-employment drug testing. These procedures should be revised to comply with the new law. 

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. 

 

Do Small Businesses Really Need to Do Background Checks?

Do Small Businesses Really Need to Do Background Checks?

Blog, Resources

A small business is a growing business, and often this results in employees being expected to do their share and wear many hats for the company. That’s what makes a good hire in these situations so valuable. Just one bad employee can have a detrimental effect in many areas of the company.

Small businesses often hire family and friends thinking they are reliable and trustworthy. While they are in most cases, all it takes is one bad apple to leave a bad taste in your customer’s mouth. Let’s say you hire a family friend for the summer. What could go wrong, right? What if you found out three months down the road that they had a DUI just weeks before you hired them? Would you still want them to drive company vehicles?

CareerBuilder research found that nearly 3 in 4 small business employers have hired the wrong person for a position. Add to that the amount of money you’ve spent on training and the amount of money you’ve lost from customers, and that single bad hire has more of an effect on your business than you ever expected. Of those companies with bad hires, 17 percent say one bad hire cost between $1,000 and $2,500, 20 percent say it cost between $2,500 and $5,000, and 11 percent say it cost between $5,000 and $10,000.

Make an investment in your company

Consider running a background check on new hires. Discovering a candidate embellished their education or work experience before adding them to the team can save a business valuable time and money. As much as you might think you know about an applicant, it’s still important. Running a criminal background check along with employment verifications will tell you what you need to know when hiring. When the well-being of the team and the company are at stake, it is always a good idea to make the investment in running background checks.

It is also a good idea to work with legal counsel to create consistent hiring practices. By specifying the type of background check to run for certain types of positions, this will help a small business create a hiring procedure when adding new employees. Background screening can improve your regulatory compliance and workplace safety, and it can reduce the chances of you facing a negligent hiring claim.

Many small businesses think that background checks are too expensive or complicated, however, with SELECTiON.COM®, this is not the case. We will develop an effective, efficient, and compliant screening solution based on your needs.

Outsource background screening

Do-it-yourself background checks can be inaccurate and limited. It is in a business’s best interest to outsource background checks. Background screening is a regulated industry and if these applicant protections aren’t met, a small business also runs the risk of litigation from its own employees.

Background check companies have the resources to complete a thorough background check more efficiently and effectively, since they have their own researchers and verification specialists to gather the information you need. A good background screening company will be up to date on the latest local, state and federally mandated regulations for background checks.

There are many reasons why SELECTiON.COM® is the right choice for businesses, big or small. We offer customizable background check packages, the largest national criminal database, integrations with HR management software, and excellent customer support.

Customized Offerings:

In addition to access to the most comprehensive, up-to-date criminal database in the country and a nationwide network of criminal researchers, we have also customizable pre-employment background checks to help you make the right decision about a job candidate.

Criminal Database:

Our Search America® Background Check is the standard in national criminal database searches. With over 1 billion records, from over 1,500 different sources, Search America® is an unparalleled tool to combine with prime source searches to ensure you have the most complete picture available of your applicant.

Integration:

SELECTiON.COM® is integrated with HR management software, including the top applicant tracking systems. We offer our proprietary applicant entry process at no additional cost.

Customer Support:

Our 5 Star customer support staff have an average tenure of 7.5 years within the company. They are all located in-house and are available to you 8am-8pm, Monday-Friday.

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.

 

Navigating the Hiring Pool with Ban the Box

Navigating the Hiring Pool with Ban the Box

Blog

In case you haven’t heard, Ban the Box is a growing movement and it looks like it’s here to stay. Every month it seems like we see a new city or state adding Ban the Box regulations.

It’s been around for 20 years now, so if you still have “the box” on your application, it may be time to think about removing it.

What is Ban the Box?
Ban the Box policies aim to make employers consider job candidates’ qualifications first, without the stigma of any criminal record. So-called “Ban the Box” initiatives are meant to provide job applicants a fair chance by removing conviction history questions on job application forms and delaying background check inquiries until later in the hiring process.

Each city and state has their own regulations when it comes to Ban the Box. Add to that Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) regulations, and that can make navigating the hiring pool difficult.

As always, you should check with your own legal counsel before changing any part of your background check program, but we have outlined some simple steps below to keeping your business compliant.

Obtain a Release
First and foremost, have the applicant sign a release form authorizing a background check.

Consistency
Run background checks on a consistent basis. Don’t just run one when you think an applicant looks fishy. That can lead to litigation down the road.

You can have a different set of reports that you run depending on the type of job, but make sure that you have clearly defined what types of reports you intend to run for each job.

If a criminal conviction is found, check to see if the conviction is relevant to the position. Again, consistency is key. Know beforehand what types of convictions would exclude someone from working in certain departments/positions.

Proper Applicant Notification
Follow FCRA guidelines if you choose not to hire based on the results of a background check.

  • Send a copy of the background check along with the Summary of Rights.
  • Wait the required 5 business days and send your Adverse Action Letter.

If you don’t know what the Summary of Rights or Adverse Action forms are, not to worry, we have you covered! Not only are these forms available on the Fastrax® website, but we can also turn on a feature for your account that will allow you to have us send the forms for you, with just the check of a box.

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 the forms you need on our proprietary system, Fastrax®, our easy to use one-click FCRA notification system that makes the FCRA compliance a breeze.

The Fastraxt® system allows employers to stay compliant and provides them 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 provide an electronic release form for a permanent digital record of their FCRA consent.

Contact us today to see how SELECTiON.COM® can keep you compliant while taking 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.

Criminals Go To Great Lengths To Hide Their Past. What Could YOU Be Missing?

Criminals Go To Great Lengths To Hide Their Past. What Could YOU Be Missing?

Blog

Let’s face it, most criminals aren’t going to just hand over their records. That would make your job a lot easier if they did! Instead they hide their history by working the flaws inherent to the criminal record reporting system.

That’s why you need a background check partner who understands the ways criminals try to work the system. We’ll discuss the top 3 ways criminals try to circumvent the system and how you can prevent it from working below.

STAY UNDER THE RADAR

Why this works: Employees can commit crimes after passing their background check, and depending on how often you re-check their records, can go on for years without anyone being the wiser.

How to prevent it: Set up a schedule to run background checks on employees and not just your applicant. This way, you will be alerted to any possible criminal activity as soon as possible.

We offer our Quarterly Watch® product for monitoring criminal activity. With Quarterly Watch®, all of your employees get screened multiple times per year through Search America®, our proprietary in-house database, which includes the Sex Offender Registry and is the largest criminal database in the United States.

GIVE A FALSE NAME

Why this works: Typically, criminal records are kept with only name and date of birth on file. Across the country, social security numbers have been removed to protect people from identity theft. Therefore, by simply giving a false first or last name and even a correct DOB, a criminal can avoid detection.

How to prevent it: Run a Social Security Number Trace Report. This report identifies all names and addresses associated with a given SSN.  If names on the report are different than the one given by your applicant, this can be a red flag.

MOVE OUT OF STATE

Why this works: 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 are missing because counties are not required to report all records, depending on 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.

How to prevent it: The best way to prevent this is to not depend solely on fingerprint or state background checks. SELECTiON.COM® has effective and cost-efficient solutions to widen your search and make sure you’re getting the best picture of your potential employee’s history.

We recommend utilizing the SSN Trace Report to identify counties the applicant has previously lived in. From there, it’s best to search criminal history at that COUNTY level in each of those areas. Combined with our Search America® report, this solution is the most popular among our clients.

SELECTiON.COM® has more than 25 years of experience dealing with the many ways that criminals try to hide and we can provide you the tools to feel confident that you are doing everything possible to keep children safe.

Contact us today to see how SELECTiON.COM® can improve your background check process.

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.

We Need A Background Check As Part Of Your Application

We Need A Background Check As Part Of Your Application

Blog

by Wayne J. Jung

“That statement alone sends shivers through many of our applicants, especially those with something to hide who fear the disclosure will cost them their chance at a job.”

That’s what an HR director recently told me as we were discussing the type of background checks that their company needed in order to do a better job assessing the quality of the candidates that they were considering for employment.

This particular company previously had been hiring solely based upon a number of factors, not one of which included a background check. Their approach was similar to buying a new car:

  • Curb Appeal – How does the candidate look and act when they arrive for the interview?
  • New Car Smell – Are they factory fresh, or a used clunker with the rust spots hidden?
  • Test Drive – How do they handle the “tough questions” during the interview itself?
  • Reviews – Can anyone within the company personally vouch for the candidate and do their references check out?

My phone rings often throughout the day with calls from small to medium-sized companies wanting to implement some sort of background check, but not having any idea what they really need, or where to even begin.

And frankly it can be a bit overwhelming.

Most background checks begin with a simple Social Security Number (SSN) trace to determine validity of the given SSN and to map a residency history for the applicant.

From there a more thorough criminal check may be used to discover any history of bad behavior that could place the company at risk, or the current employees themselves.

Verifications of prior employment, education and personal references are almost becoming a necessity with the increased amount of resume falsification in today’s job market.

Will they be handling any money in their new role?

Include a Federal Criminal Report to uncover any white collar criminal history, or a credit report containing information such as civil judgments, tax liens, bankruptcies, credit and payment history.

Will they be given a company vehicle, or will they drive as part of their job responsibility?

A Motor Vehicle Records search provides license validity, suspensions and driving violations depending on the state in question, with the information provided adhering to each state’s specifications.

There is a background check for any specific position or need within any corporate, educational, non-profit, healthcare, manufacturing, retail and staffing environment in the marketplace. And if not, one can always be created to meet a specific need.

Hiring is tough. Background checks are easy.

At SELECTiON.COM®, we specialize in making it the least stressful part of your day.

So, whether you NEED a background check as part of your job application process, or you WANT to start from scratch, why don’t you give us a call and kick the tires today?

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