We’re here to help you out! Exactly what’s included in an employment background check is up to the employer. However, depending on industry and job position there are different things that an employer might want to include. Employment background checks can range from a simple verification of your social security number to more complex searches that include your work history, credit, driving records, criminal records, bankruptcy information, education history, and reference checks.

Let’s go over some of the things that are most commonly found in employment background checks and then show you additional add-ons that can be included.

1. Social Security Validation

This is almost guaranteed to be included in every employment background check. A social security validation is run to ensure that an applicant’s social security number is legitimate. This check will also help find all names, aliases, dates of birth, and address histories associated with that social security number. This may also help employers find locations that an applicant has lived under other aliases that can reveal criminal records that wouldn’t have been found otherwise.

2. Criminal Records Check

Criminal records checks are also very commonly included in employment background checks (including our National Baseline Search). These checks will search both national and county records for any criminal history. What does that mean? Any felonies or misdemeanors that are on your record will show up here.

However, just because you have a felony or misdemeanor doesn’t necessarily mean that you will be discounted from a potential job. In fact, ban-the-box laws are in place in many different states and counties to help prevent discrimination based on criminal history. This law prevents employers from asking an applicant about their criminal history before making a hiring decision.

Criminal record checks can be very important! Depending on the records found and job position, certain positions of trust and security can strongly benefit from knowing and discussing an applicant’s criminal history.

3. Address History & Identity Checks

Address history and identity checks are included in our National Baseline Search and generally performed to ensure that all of an applicant’s information is correct. These searches help find any addresses, DOBs, or birth/death indexes that match with the applicant. One important aspect of these checks is they help verify findings from other searches or uncover hidden aliases/addresses that an applicant may try to hide.

4. U.S. Terrorist Watch List & International Most Wanted List

Searches of these two lists are included in our National Baseline Search and most basic employment background checks. These searches help weed out candidates who could potentially be threatening to your organization and are especially important for security and high-profile positions.

5. Sex Offender Registry Search

A sex offender registry search will check both national and specific state’s live sex offender registries against an applicant’s information. This search is included in our National Baseline Search and very common in most employment background checks. A Sex Offender Registry Search is especially crucial for positions of trust or those that deal with young children. Running this search is pertinent for employers to protect themselves from negligent liability suits.

(This search is also crucial for volunteer screening! Sports, nonprofit, and religious groups should be performing screening as well to protect their organizations and volunteers.)

6. Employment & Education Verifications

Employment and education verifications aren’t always included in employment background checks, but are very useful to employers. These verifications often include a phone call to verify previous employment and education history is correct and/or searches of databases that house this information.

7. Social Media Check

This is a search that has becoming increasingly common to find on employment background checks. Social media checks go through a potential candidate’s social media accounts to look for any potential red flags. These red flags could include finding hate symbols or images of violence, frequent posts complaining about their current or past jobs, or images of themselves partying really hard.

The main idea behind social media checks is that it helps employers find details that are often missed in a traditional hiring process. Social media checks can help employers get a better understanding of an applicant’s true persona. Please make sure that your social media checks are being performed by screening professionals that can perform FCRA-certified and legally compliant searches.

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Have more questions about employment background checks? Or are you looking to start background screening soon? Please don’t hesitate to reach out, we’d be happy to help!

The post What’s Included In An Employment Background Check? appeared first on Blueline.

The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) is a federal law that was enacted in 1970 to help consumers deal with inaccuracies in their credit reports. In 1996, the law was expanded to include other reports including background reports for employment screening purposes. Today, FCRA compliance is mandatory for any employer using a third party to conduct background checks.

Among it provisions, the FCRA includes the following to protect consumers:

-Consumers have the right to be informed and provide consent when an employment background check is going to be performed
-Consumers have the right to review any information complied on them from these checks and correct any inaccuracies that it may contain
-Consumers have the right to know when their personal data is used in decisions that will affect them
-Consumers have the right to appeal those decisions if they feel that they were made unfairly

As an employer, when you are choosing a background check provider you need to ensure that your provider is a certified FCRA-compliant Credit Reporting Agency (CRA). Aside from choosing a quality, certified CRA, employers also play a critical role within several steps of the background check process.

Your FCRA responsibilities as an employer include:

–FCRA-permitted purpose: The Fair Credit Reporting Act states that employers are only allowed to conduct background checks on employees or potential hires with the purpose of determining fitness for a position. This includes routine background checks to ensure that new charges or findings have not occurred for current employees or employees that are being considered for a promotion or new role within the company.
(Make sure that your purposes for running a background check fall within these guidelines. You should not run a background check on employees for personal reasons or reasons that fall outside of determining fitness for employment.)

-Disclosure & Consent: In order for a background check to be legal, the employer must provide all candidates (including current employees) with a written disclosure of their plans to conduct the background check. This disclosure must be presented on its own—not handed over in an orientation packet or with a collection of other papers. For employers wishing to run a background check on a potential job candidate under review, they must also obtain a signed consent form from the candidate before instructing a CRA to conduct a background check.
(Please ensure that your screening candidate is aware that a background check will be performed on them in order to avoid any liability issues.)

-Share results with the candidate: Upon completion of a background check and before making a final hiring decision, employers must inform candidates of their rights under the FCRA and offer them to opportunity to review (and dispute if necessary) any information within their report. (We always include this information in our authorization forms and offer to send a consumer copy electronically if requested.)

-Consider Equal Employment Opportunity Commission rules to findings review: Under the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), employers are banned from excluding potential hires based purely on past arrests or criminal records (unless directed otherwise by state or federal regulations) if the offense is not relevant to an applicants ability to perform their job. Employers should also remember to pay heed to various states “ban the box” regulations which can forbid them from asking about criminal records until after serious hiring consideration.
(Be sure to take each applicant on a case-by-case basis. Consider what the job requirements are, their personal character, if they have completed any rehabilitation programs, or if they have performed well in similar roles before.)

-Follow proper 2-step adverse-action procedures: If a background check does contribute to a decision against hiring, retaining, or promoting a candidate, an employer must issue the candidate written notice. This notice is knows as a pre-adverse action notification and gives the candidate a chance to refute or explain any findings before a hiring decision is final.
(Blueline Services is happy to provide guidance on this process. Our state of the art platform will also help create pre-adverse notifications for you to help streamline your process.)

-Finalize the hire: Once background checks have been conducted, any disputed facts have been corrected as needed, and candidates have been notified of any adverse actions (and given the chance to respond), an employer can then make the final hiring decision and notify all candidates of their final decision.

Here at Blueline Services we always work to stay up-to-date on all of the latest industry changes and updates to keep our clients on top of things. If you have any questions on how to stay FCRA compliant, please feel free to reach out to 888-919-8378 or backgrounds@blueline-services.com.

The post What Does It Mean To Be FCRA Compliant? appeared first on Blueline.

Colorado is no stranger to the ‘ban-the-box’ notion as similar bills were brought up in 2016 and 2017, but both times they weren’t passed through. The current version of the bill is posted online here. We’ve outlined some changes that are proposed in this current version of the bill below.

Employers would be prohibited from:

-Inquiring about an applicant’s criminal history on an initial application
-Placing a statement in an employment application that a person with a criminal history may not apply for a position or advertising anything similar

Employers would still be allowed to obtain a job applicant’s criminal history outside of the above stipulations. Certain exemptions are included however for employers regarding the advertising and initial employment restrictions if:

-The law prohibits a person who has a particular criminal history from being employed in a particular job
-The employer is participating in a program to encourage employment of people with criminal histories
-The employer is required by law to conduct a criminal history record check for a particular position

To stay updated on the status of this bill you can go to https://leg.colorado.gov/bills/hb19-1025. As of 2/5/2019 the bill has been introduced and is currently under consideration.

The post ‘Ban The Box’ Bill Makes A Comeback In Colorado After Being Struck Down Twice appeared first on Blueline.

Along with establishing equal pay standards, employers are also now prohibited from asking potential employees about their compensation history. These new requirements apply to any Oregon employer with one or more employees. To minimize risk of charges or damages, employers are able to complete a thorough survey every three years regarding their work force to demonstrate that employees doing similar work are being paid similar amounts.

This new change may open the door for a slew of pay increases or potential complaints and issues for employers if they are not ready to follow the new law requirements. The Bureau of Labor and Industries (BOLI) has opened up numerous free best practice guides for Oregon employers who want to best understand how to comply with the new employment statute. (You can check out the guides here)

The equal pay act protects the following classes:

-Race
-Color
-Religion
-Sex
-Sexual orientation
-National origin
-Marital status
-Veteran status
-Disability
-Age

The exceptions to the act for acceptable pay differences include:

-Seniority or merit
-Work location
-Education
-Training
-Experience
-Or a combination of these factors

To see the full amendment to the law you can go to oregon.gov here. If you are an employer in Oregon and have any questions regarding this new legislation, please view the document and resources above to see if your questions can be answered or email our customer service team.

The post Oregon Equal Pay Act: What Employers Should Know appeared first on Blueline.

Last month, a federal court in Connecticut ruled that refusing to hire a medical marijuana user after they tested positive during a pre-employment drug screening is a violation of the state’s medical marijuana law.

This is the first ruling of its kind in a federal case, following other similar recent rulings in state courts (Massachusetts and Rhode Island) that have been in favor of protecting marijuana users. Previous rulings, such as those in California, Colorado, Oregon and Washington, have sided against medical cannabis users in employment cases.

In this latest case, Noffsinger v. SSC NIANTIC OPERATING COMPANY, LLC, Katelin Noffsinger had been offered and accepted a job as a recreation therapy director at a nursing home, contingent on her passing a drug test. After the drug test came back positive for THC, the nursing home rescinded the job offer, worried that hiring her would cause them to lose their funding as a federal contractor.

The nursing home was following federal law that still states marijuana use is illegal, whether for medicinal or recreational purposes. However, the Connecticut Palliative Use of Marijuana Act (PUMA) gives a private right of action to aggrieved medical marijuana patients in Connecticut.

In his ruling, U.S. District Judge Jeffrey Meyer said that the federal Drug Free Workplace Act does not prohibit federal contractors from employing people who use medical marijuana outside the workplace in accordance with state law.

This case is a good reminder for employers to not only refer to federal laws regarding marijuana, but to also look at state law prior to making any employment decisions or drafting employment policies. Laws concerning marijuana have been changing consistently over the past few years so it’s more important than ever to stay up-to-date with your state’s specific laws.

The post New Federal Court Ruling On Medical Marijuana Use Favors Employees appeared first on Blueline.