We’ve listed some of the more notable changes that occurred in 2019 below. Please make sure that you’re up to date with your own area’s changing legislation in order to stay compliant.

‘Ban the Box’ and ‘Clean State’ Laws

2019 saw the continuation of ‘Ban the Box‘ laws being spread, in the last decade nearly three dozen states and more than 150 communities have passed legislation that help ensure ex-offenders aren’t left out of the hiring pool.

Other clean state laws included:
-New Mexico’s Criminal Offender Employment Act
–Colorado Chance to Compete Act
–Fair Chance to Work Law – Westchester County, New York
-Clean State Laws – Colorado, Nevada, West Virginia

Pay Equity Laws

Pay equity laws took affect in Oregon, Connecticut, Hawaii, Maine, Washington, Alabama, Illinois, Missouri, New York, Kansas City, and Suffolk County in 2019. Even more pay equity laws are expected to be passed in 2020 and 2021.

These laws are being passed in an effort to close the wage gap between men and women. Most of these pay equity laws include statutes that prevent employers from asking about an employee’s previous pay history. As these laws continue to spread, please stay aware for your own hiring protocols.

Some lawmakers are adding additional concepts to these pay equity laws such as safe harbor. Colorado’s pay equity law which passed in 2019, but will take effect in 2021 encourages employers to complete internal pay equity analyses to find wage differences based on gender and remedy them.

New Marijuana Accommodations

Marijuana laws have largely changed on the state or local level within the past couple of years. Thirty-three states and the District of Columbia have now passed some form of medical marijuana law, with 11 states legalizing marijuana for recreational use.

This has been one of the largest subjects of interest for employers as they grapple with how to handle this new legislation within their own workforce.

If you have questions on marijuana legislation and how it may play a role in your own hiring and drug testing policies, we highly recommend consulting legal council about your specific state and area laws.

Some more notable legislation that took place during 2019 with marijuana included some of the following:

-New Jersey’s Jake Honig Compassionate Use Medical Cannabis Act
-New Mexico’s SB 406
-Oklahoma’s Medical Marijuana and Patient Protection Act
-Nevada’s AB 132
-New York City’s Int. No. 1445-A
–Whitmire v. Wal-Mart Stores Inc.

Looking Forward

As we continue to move forward into 2020, we expect to see many of these same legal trends continuing to spread. Especially as new technologies and continued efforts to build a more equal workforce continue.

The post A Look Back: 2019’s Big Legal Decisions and Changes In Screening appeared first on Blueline.

1. Register your company at clearinghouse.fmcsa.dot.gov
   1. If you have a USDOT number, the clearinghouse will pull your company information from other relevant systems. Make sure to double check the accuracy of the information pulled.
   2. Assign others in your company to be assistants to help you manage the information provided through the clearinghouse.
2. Assign Blueline Services as your C/TPA (Consortium/Third Party Administrator).
3. Pre-purchase enough queries to cover your current DOT regulated employees.
   1. Queries never expire and additional can be purchased as needed.
4. Get your drivers to register at clearinghouse.fmcsa.dot.gov right away!
   1. A driver must register and give consent for his/her information to be accessible.  If they want to maintain a CDL, they HAVE to register on the clearinghouse site.  
   2. Drivers can monitor their information and dispute reported information directly on the site.

 
All employers with FMCSA regulated employees must register and use the clearinghouse. If drivers do not register, the consent will be sent by regular mail to the address on their CDL. This will delay employment and potential opportunities for drivers, so is in their best interest to register online.  Employers must query all new drivers before hire and all current drivers must be queried annually. The Clearinghouse is not yet integrated with other screening vendors/platforms, which means the queries need to be performed directly on the clearinghouse site. For the first three years (DOT requires a 3 year employment verification), Blueline can still provide the required employment verifications while the database catches up (year by year) to the requirement.  
 
We know change can cause heartburn, but this update is one that will be good for employers and overall industry safety. We encourage you to check out the excellent resources on the FAQ and Learning Center pages of the clearinghouse website https://clearinghouse.fmcsa.dot.gov/ . 
 
Thank you for your continued business, please reach out to us with any questions or implementation issues.  
 
Blueline Drug Testing Department
801-575-8378
mail@blueline-services.com 

The post Clearinghouse Information appeared first on Blueline.

We’ve included answers to the top 5 most frequently asked questions on their website here as well as information about the form changes. To find more answers and information, you can visit their website here.

Changes To Drug Testing Custody and Control Form and Alcohol Testing Form

The FMCSA has announced that there will be changes to the required data on Federal Drug Testing Custody and Control Forms (CCF) and Alcohol Testing Forms (ATF).

Current forms allow the use of either a driver’s social security number (SSN) or employee identification number (EIN) when completing a CCF or ATF. However, effective January 6, 2020, the FMCSA will require that drivers’ commercial driver’s license numbers be used instead of SSN or EIN when FMCSA-covered drivers’ positive drug or alcohol test results are reported to the Clearinghouse.

To see further details about this update, you can check out their announcement here.

What is the Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse and what information will it contain?

The Clearinghouse is a secure online database that will give employers, the FMCSA, State Driver Licensing Agencies (SDLAs), and state law enforcement personnel real-time information about commercial driver’s license (CDL) and commercial learner’s permit (CLP) holders’ drug and alcohol program violations.

The Clearinghouse will contain records of violations of drug and alcohol prohibitions in 49 CFR Part 382, Subpart B, including positive drug or alcohol test results and test refusals. When a driver completes the return-to-duty (RTD) process and follow-up testing plan, this information will also be recorded in the Clearinghouse.

If a driver has a drug and alcohol program violation in one state, then applies for a commercial driver’s license (CDL) in another state, will the Clearinghouse be able to connect that driver’s drug and alcohol violation history to the new CDL?

Yes. The Clearinghouse will identify drivers who move frequently and obtain CDLs in different states and link those CDLs, in order to maintain complete and accurate information on such drivers.

How will driver data be protected in the Clearinghouse?

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) takes the protection of personal information very seriously. The Clearinghouse will meet all relevant federal security standards and FMCSA will verify the effectiveness of the security protections on a regular basis.

• Clearinghouse information will not be available to the public; only authorized users will be able to register and access the Clearinghouse for designated purposes.
• The Clearinghouse will require authentication, via a login.gov username and password, to access records. Login.gov, a shared service which offers secure online access to participating government systems, also requires the completion of a user verification process to ensure the proper person is using those credentials.
• Drivers registered in the Clearinghouse will be able to access their Clearinghouse records at any time, and at no cost to them. Drivers will only be able to access their own information, not information about other drivers.
• FMCSA will only share detailed drug and alcohol violation information with a prospective or current employer, and/or their designated consortium/third-party administrator (C/TPA), when an employer or designated C/TPA has requested and received specific consent from the driver. Drivers will be able to see the information that would be released to an employer before consenting to the release.
• Driver information will only be used by FMCSA and other enforcement agencies as required to enforce drug and alcohol testing regulations.

How do authorized users sign up to access the Clearinghouse database and when will registration be available?

Employers, drivers, medical review officers (MROs), substance abuse professionals (SAPs), and consortia/third-party administrators (C/TPAs) must register in the Clearinghouse to access the Clearinghouse database. Clearinghouse registration is scheduled to open in fall 2019. Sign up now to receive email updates, including a notification once registration is open.

Does the final rule change any of the existing drug and alcohol program requirements in Part 40?

No, the final rule does not change any existing requirements in the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT)-wide procedures for transportation workplace drug and alcohol testing.

The Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse will take effect in January 2020. This Clearinghouse applies to employers and employees under the U.S. Department of Transportation. If you have further questions about the Clearinghouse, please visit the FMCSA’s website.

The post FMCSA Updates With More Information About Clearinghouse appeared first on Blueline.

What does this mean from a background screening perspective?

There are two key details to make note of:

The first major change is that the New York Office of Court Administration (OCA) fees have increased pretty dramatically. The fees for running a New York OCA criminal record search (a.k.a. a statewide search) will increase from $65 to $95.

Any organizations performing this search in New York should account for this rather sizable increase to search fees and adjust accordingly. We wanted to help make sure that our clients were made aware of this impending change as soon as possible. As outlined in the legislation, the intent behind raising the fee is to help increase contributions into the state’s indigent legal services fund. The entirety of the additional $30 will be put towards this defense fund.

The second change is that undisposed cases will no longer be included in criminal history record searches through the NY OCA. Undisposed cases are cases where criminal charges against an individual occurred, but there is no record of a conviction, imposition of any sentence or penalty, or unexecuted warrant of arrest (see full definition here). However, this new provision dealing with unresolved cases will not be implemented for another year.

If you perform background checks in New York and have any questions about how these new changes might affect your current situation, please don’t hesitate to reach out. Give us a call at 888-919-8378 or email us at backgrounds@blueline-services.com.

The post New York To Drastically Increase OCA Search Fees appeared first on Blueline.