Employment Background Checks
Pertaining to Background Checks for Employment, the FCRA or the Fair Credit Reporting Act was enacted to protect information collected by consumer reporting agencies such as credit criminal history and convictions, traffic infractions and traffic related crimes.
Companies that provide information to consumer reporting agencies also have specific legal obligations, including the duty to investigate disputed information. When an applicant disputes (usually negative) information on their credit report, employers must take that dispute into consideration when making an employment decision.
Adverse Action During FCRA Background Checks
Employers, utilizing information located on an applicant’s background check, must notify the applicant when an adverse action is taken on the basis of such reports. In the form of Adverse Action Letters and Pre-Adverse Action Letters, which detail exactly why an employer intends to take adverse action against the applicant based upon negative information found in the employment background check.
Examples of adverse action letter initiations can include locating a criminal conviction on an applicant’s background check. States have varying laws as to which criminal convictions found on employment background checks can be used against the applicant. Convictions for theft, in most cases, can be used against an applicant when that applicant would have access to valuable merchandise or cash in the course of their employment. School bus driver applicant’s with convictions for abusing children would be an example of adverse action for a conviction that is closely associated with employment duties. Another example is an applicant for an accounts payable position having a conviction for embezzlement.
Examples of what adverse action should not be taken, according to the FCRA, in an employment background check
When a conviction is located on an applicant’s rap sheet, and is not associated in any way with the position sought, employers must take that into consideration. For example: an applicant for the position of waiter in a restaurant has a conviction for trespassing, or an accountant has a conviction for driving while impaired. Those convictions are not closely associated with the positions. If, however, a truck driver was to have a DUI conviction, that is more closely related to the position.
Fast Turnaround on Pre-employment background investigations
USPA Nationwide Security has a division who only conducts pre-employment background investigations. Our employment background checks are tailored to your business and further tailoring to each individual position is also recommended. For example, we don’t expect our clients to screen their warehouse workers in the same manner they screen their vice president, etc. We will create an affordable, sustainable program and seamless process to turn out pre-employment background checks with a simple email.
Speak with someone from our staff about your pre-employment background checks right now!
Background Checks for Employment – FCRA compliant pre-employment investigations for employers. Adverse Action During FCRA, credit checks, driver license checks.
