Proper employment screening is the most effective way for companies to reduce their overall risk and liability. Background checks help ensure a quality hiring decision and save your company time and money. Ban the box policies have tightened the regulations on these screenings.

The background check industry is facing significant challenges. Legislation, known as ban-the-box laws, prohibits employers from asking criminal history questions during the hiring process. These laws are intended to provide applicants with a fair chance at employment by delaying background checks until further along in the hiring process. Ban-the-box policies have been enacted in 36 states and over 150 cities.

HR managers are faced with finding the balance between being liable for negligent hiring and giving applicants with a criminal history a fair chance to be evaluated. Thorough background checks can uncover all the information necessary for employers to make the right decisions in hiring.

Being able to access the full records of a potential employee makes the hiring decision much simpler, with the integrity and safety of the company and its current employees being kept secure. It’s understandable to want to give the ability to individuals with checkered histories the chance to return to the workforce without being labeled. However, in certain roles, it’s also imperative the applicant be forthcoming with any hidden records that may impact the role itself.

Staying within compliance is an ever-growing challenge unto itself in this evolving time, and the team at Blueline is here to make it an easier road to navigate. Let us help you through the entire hiring process, and take you through any testing and reporting that may be required after the hiring work is done.

Blueline’s customizable screening services offer:

• Identity verification
• Criminal record checks
• Driving records checks
• Reference checks
• National database

Let Blueline help you keep external threats from becoming internal threats. We are here to make sure you stay in compliance with all new rules and regulations.

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Drug overdoses can happen anywhere, and the workplace is not exempt from these problems. The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) reported that drug overdose deaths at work have increased for seven years in a row.

Drug Overdose Rates Soaring

Drug related deaths in the U.S. skyrocketed 30% in 2020 to a record 93,331. This means an average of 256 Americans died every day from a drug overdose. This surge of overdoses was not unforeseen as drug abuse is a continually increasing problem in the U.S.

The strongest approach to prevent workplace drug overdoses is to implement a drug testing policy for your company.

How Can Drug Testing Reduce Workplace Drug Overdoses?

There are many circumstances in which a company may conduct drug testing. Each of these strategies can be used to eliminate the chance of a workplace overdose.

• Pre-Employment: This test is used to establish illicit drug use by a potential hire. Your workplace is less likely to have drug problems if applicant testing becomes part of the hiring process.
• Random: A random selection process chooses employees to perform drug testing. This will ensure employees are following your workplace drug policy.
• Post-Accident: This is performed after a workplace incident occurs. When a company has a post-accident drug testing policy, employees are less likely to consume drugs before or during work.
• Reasonable Suspicion: When there is evidence or reasonable cause to suspect an employee’s drug use, this test can be performed. Supervisors must complete a prior training course to report drug and alcohol symptoms.
• Return to Duty: This test may be used as a condition of a worker’s return to safety-sensitive duties after a company’s drug or alcohol policy has been violated. This will help prevent continued policy violations.

As drug overdose deaths are continuing to soar throughout the country, Blueline is here to protect your company. We can help navigate this sensitive subject by creating a drug testing program that is right for you.

The post How Drug Testing Can Prevent Workplace Death appeared first on Blueline.

Addiction recovery centers are also going to be set up for free, using tax revenues from marijuana sales as funding.

Drug policies were changed in New Jersey and Arizona to allow the legalization of recreational marijuana. Mississippi voted to allow the use of medical marijuana. There was also a major change in Washington, D.C., where a measure was passed decriminalizing the use of hallucinogenic mushrooms.

There are definite concerns within the drug testing industry about how these changes are going to impact the ability to continue workplace drug testing. Continuing drug testing is imperative, though the idea of just testing for marijuana and/or alcohol is becoming outdated. Continue testing for them, but going forward, a full panel of drugs may be a more effective manner of testing.

While each state is creating its own rules and regulations regarding drug testing and collection processes, one thing is still going to be vital. Companies are still going to be liable for safety-sensitive positions that may cause accidents. Testing within these groups is ultimately going to keep both employees and the public safer.

As Oregon legalizes most drugs, more states are legalizing and lessening restrictions on drugs, the testing industry is going to go through changes. We are here to help our clients navigate these new waters and keep you up to date on any new regulations and changes coming your way.

The post Oregon Legalizes Most Drugs appeared first on Blueline.

The California Department of Fair Employment and Housing has updated the state’s criminal background check rules to expand California Worker Protections. The new rules expand the scope of the Fair Chance Act and let employers know they intend to enforce the new regulations.

New Legal Requirements

The newest updates create worker protections dealing with Covid-19, criminal background check stipulations, and rules for providing notifications to candidates. The California Worker Protections Fair Chance Act prohibits the majority of employers from inquiring into a candidate’s criminal past before a conditional offer of employment has been made. Employers can’t include any questions that request the disclosure of criminal history to ensure the candidates are being judged on merit and not past indiscretion.

Arrests that didn’t end up with convictions may not be used as consideration for employment, with a few exceptions. The employer can’t revoke a job offer until they have reviewed and conducted an individualized assessment while providing the candidate time to respond to the allegations before the employer can make a final decision. After the assessment, if the employer revokes the offer, they must wait five business days for the candidate to respond.

The employer must notify the candidate in writing if the offer is denied. This is only after the fair chance process has run its course.

Why It Matters

Employers should make sure that all screening and hiring policies and processes are updated and revised to align with the DFEH’s guidance. Employers who rely on a candidate’s criminal history to make an employment decision must follow the Act’s specific personalized assessment and notice requirements. Background screening options that identify the potential impact of the fair chance act might help mitigate the risks of regulatory action, hearings, or other exposure that can harm an employer’s brand and status.

The post California Worker Protections and the Fair Chance Act appeared first on Blueline.

These guidelines will allow federal executive branch agencies to collect and test oral fluid specimen as a part of their drug testing programs.

The OFMG will be effective starting January 1st 2020. However, federal agencies will not be able to conduct oral fluid drug testing of federal employees until HHS has approved laboratories for oral fluid drug testing in accordance with the OFMG.

These guidelines may also be used by agencies such as the Department of Transportation (DOT) and Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) as part of their regulated drug testing programs, but these agencies must engage in separate rule-making activities.

This is the first time since 1986 that a specimen other than urine will be able to be used in the federal agency testing programs.

Some important things to take note of with these new changes:

-The specimen collection, laboratory analysis, and medical review of oral fluid tests will mirror existing procedures and processes currently in place for urine drug testing.
-Laboratories must be approved by the HHS National Laboratory Certification Program for oral fluid drug testing. Requirements for approval will largely mirror those currently in place for urine drug testing laboratories.
-The oral fluid specimen collections must be observed, use an FDA-cleared specimen collection device, and will require split specimen procedures using 2 separate devices.
-Federal agencies will be allowed to use oral fluid testing for all of the same testing reasons as currently authorized for urine drug testing and will not be required to choose between using only urine or oral fluid.
-An approved federal custody and control form (CCF) will be used to document the oral fluid collection and establish chain of custody of the specimen.
-The drug testing panel will test for the same drugs as the federal panel for urine drug testing. Cut-off levels specific to oral fluid are included in the OFMG.
-The OFMG contains provisions for when an individual cannot provide adequate volume oral specimen or urine specimen.
-The OFMG only refers to and permits lab-based oral fluid drug testing, not instant or POCT oral fluid testing.

It has taken many years from the first time SAMHSA publicly recognized the valuable attributes of lab-based oral fluid testing until now—announcing the proposed regulations. The agency has said that their hopes with releasing oral fluid testing options will be to help reduce time and money needed in order to maintain a drug testing program, and help eliminate the ever-growing issue of drug test cheating.

To see further details on these latest updates, you can view the guideline announcement here.

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Why Do Employers Need A Query Plan?

In order to conduct queries within the Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse, employers of CDL drivers and owner-operators must purchase a query plan.

The Clearinghouse final rule requires that employers conduct queries both as part of any pre-employment driver investigation and at least annually for every CDL driver they currently employ.

Please note that query purchases are required for designated consortia/third-party administrators (C/TPAs) to conduct queries on prospective and current drivers in the Clearinghouse and that C/TPAs cannot purchase queries on behalf of employers.

There is a $1.25 flat rate per query – including both limited and full queries. However, options are available for high-volume users.

To see more details about the Clearinghouse query plans, you can visit their website here.

The post FMCSA Drug & Alcohol Clearinghouse Query Plans appeared first on Blueline.

One of the biggest worries or impacts following marijuana’s legalization is the potential for high costs at employers’ expense. These costs can include higher worker’s compensation, more drug testing, and potential increased litigation costs. Current Compliance said that if even 1% of American small businesses have a marijuana-related court case each year, the cost to small businesses nationwide would be approximately 48 billion dollars annually.

Their survey also found that a large percentage of employers were confused as to whether they could still test for marijuana.

Yes! You can still test for marijuana. In fact, you should be!

As an employer you have the right to maintain a safe and drug-free workplace. With all of these changes in legislation, it is more important than ever before that employers protect themselves. The benefits and return on drug testing have withstood the test of time and will continue to help employers control and prevent liability costs.

If you have questions about drug testing or how you can improve your workplace program in order to protect your company, reach out to our drug testing department. You can reach them by phone or email: 888-919-8378 or mail@blueline-services.com.

The post 2019 Update: Marijuana In The Workplace appeared first on Blueline.

There are some exceptions to this new ruling. The ban will not apply to firefighters, EMTs, employees who operate motor vehicles, work for the federal government or who are involved in other safety sensitive positions as determined by their employer.

To see the exact details and exceptions to this bill, you can view the bill in its entiretyhere.

“As our legal cannabis industry continues to flourish, it’s important to ensure the door of economic opportunity remains open for all Nevadans,” Governor Sisolak said in a statement. “That’s why I was proud to sign AB 132 into law.”

Nevada employers will still be able to administer pre-employment screenings for other drugs, but positive cannabis screenings will no longer be able cause for not hiring an applicant.

This new legislation is intended to help protect discrimination against those who are lawfully using marijuana, as recreational marijuana was legalized in Nevada in 2017.

If you are located in Nevada or hire within Nevada and have further questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out to our drug testing team.

The post Nevada Bans Employers From Refusing To Hire Applicants Who Fail Marijuana Tests 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.

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.