Criminal Records
Can Employers Automatically Exclude Job Applicants with Criminal Records?
By admin at 26 July, 2010, 6:21 pm
By Lester Rosen, President of ESR
From the ESR Mail Box
Question:
Can an employer automatically exclude an applicant with a felony or criminal record? What about automated processes that use a system to identity applicants with a criminal record?
Answer:
The one thing that an employer can be advised with some certainty is that any sort of automatic policy based [...]
Nebraska Man Accused of Running Background Check Scam
By admin at 1 July, 2010, 11:30 am
By Thomas Ahearn, ESR News Staff Writer
A recent news story from Nebraska suggests that the next time you want a background check company to run a background check for you, you may want to run a background check on the background check company first to see if they run real background checks.
According to a report by [...]
New York Raising Fees for Statewide Criminal History Record Searches Effective July 1
By admin at 25 June, 2010, 12:01 pm
By Thomas Ahearn, ESR News Staff Writer
The New York State Office of Court Administration (OCA), which provides a New York Statewide Criminal History Record Search (CHRS), will raise fees for each CHRS to $65.00 from $55.00 effective July 1, 2010, according to information on NYCourts.gov.
As explained on NYCourts.gov, the OCA’s CHRS criteria “is strictly based on [...]
FBI Letter Responds To NY Times Editorial on Flawed Criminal Background Checks
By admin at 16 June, 2010, 4:07 pm
By Thomas Ahearn, ESR News Staff Writer
The New York Times recently printed a letter from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) responding to an earlier Times editorial – ‘Check It Again’ – that discussed the accuracy of data the FBI relies on when performing criminal background checks. The text of the letter, titled ‘Reliability of F.B.I. Data,’ is [...]
Jury Finds Housing Authority Negligent in Elderly Woman’s Murder after Tenant Background Check Misses Neighbor’s Criminal Past
By admin at 14 April, 2010, 6:45 pm
By Thomas Ahearn, ESR Staff Writer
In a story that shows the importance of using overlapping tools to do criminal background checks, a jury recently ruled that negligence by the Housing Authority in a North Carolina city led to an elderly woman’s death at the hands of her crack cocaine addicted neighbor in 2007.
A story on [...]
Discrimination Lawsuit Shows Importance of Employer Policy on the Use of Criminal Records During Background Checks
By admin at 12 April, 2010, 3:31 pm
By Thomas Ahearn, ESR Staff Writer
A recently filed class action lawsuit – which alleges that one of the largest management consulting firms in the world conducted background checks that discriminated against African-Americans and Latinos – underscores the importance of employers understanding the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) policy regarding the use of criminal records [...]
New CO Law Gives Ex-Convicts More of a Chance to Find Jobs and Employers Less of a Chance of Liability from Negligent Hiring
By admin at 31 March, 2010, 3:54 pm
By Thomas Ahearn, ESR Staff Writer
A recent article in the Denver Business Journal reveals details about a little-known bill that may have a big impact on the business community in Colorado with regards to employer liability from negligent hiring.
House Bill 10-1023 “Employer Liability Negligent Hiring” – recently signed into law by Colorado Governor Bill Ritter – [...]
SHRM Surveys Reveal 3 Out Of 4 Businesses Conduct Reference Background Checks and Criminal Background Checks
By admin at 23 March, 2010, 2:55 pm
By Thomas Ahearn, ESR Staff Writer
A series of recent surveys from the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) reveals that when it comes to reference background checks and criminal background checks, approximately three out of four U.S. businesses perform these two types of background checks as part of their pre-employment screening programs.
According to surveys conducted [...]
Background checks may be delayed due to Courts affected by holidays, budget Cuts and weather
By admin at 11 February, 2010, 5:06 pm
California among the states hit hard
Many courts throughout the US are closed or delayed due to holidays, budget cuts and weather. In California , there are going to be three court closures in a row as flollows:
Friday Feb 12th – Lincolns Birthday
Monday Feb 15 – Washington’s Birthday
Wednesday Feb 17th – Court Furlough
This will delay the [...]
Bad weather can delay background checks
By admin at 9 February, 2010, 5:42 pm
The weather issues on the east cost can potentially delay background checks for candidates that include searches at courthouses that are snowed in. For example, the Philadelphia Courthouse has closed and will remain closed on Wednesday, February 10, 2010. Even in jurisdictions where courts are open, court researchers may have difficulty getting to the courthouse [...]
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