Can Employers Automatically Exclude Job Applicants with Criminal Records?
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 [...]
Categories: Criminal Records, Discrimination, EEOC, Recent Posts Tags:
Nebraska Man Accused of Running Background Check Scam
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 [...]
Categories: Background Check Scams, Criminal Databases, Criminal Records, fbi, Recent Posts, Unauthorized background check Tags:
New York Raising Fees for Statewide Criminal History Record Searches Effective July 1
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 [...]
Categories: Criminal Records, criminal searches, Recent Posts, State laws Tags:
FBI Letter Responds To NY Times Editorial on Flawed Criminal Background Checks
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 [...]
Categories: Background Checks, Criminal Databases, Criminal Records, fbi, Recent Posts Tags:
Jury Finds Housing Authority Negligent in Elderly Woman’s Murder after Tenant Background Check Misses Neighbor’s Criminal Past
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 [...]
Categories: Criminal Databases, Criminal Records, Recent Posts, tenant screening Tags:
Discrimination Lawsuit Shows Importance of Employer Policy on the Use of Criminal Records During Background Checks
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 [...]
Categories: Best Practices, Criminal Records, Discrimination, EEOC, Recent Posts, Trends Tags:
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 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 – [...]
Categories: Criminal Records, Negligent hiring, Recent Posts, State laws Tags:
SHRM Surveys Reveal 3 Out Of 4 Businesses Conduct Reference Background Checks and Criminal Background Checks
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 [...]
Categories: credit reports, Criminal Records, Recent Posts, References, SHRM, Trends Tags:
Background checks may be delayed due to Courts affected by holidays, budget Cuts and weather
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 [...]
Categories: California Background checks, Criminal Records, ESR, Recent Posts, State laws Tags: background, check
Bad weather can delay background checks
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 [...]
Categories: Criminal Records, Recent Posts Tags: background, check, criminal, employment, online