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Background Checks

$4.35 million lesson: Ensure safety of teenage workers

02/20/2024
Many teens as young as 14 work fast-food and retail jobs. They’re often not aware of their rights in the workplace, what constitutes harassment and where they can turn if they are harassed—or worse.

Case of the Week: Blanket criminal history ban costs employer $2.7 million

03/30/2023
The EEOC has long taken the position that automatically barring those with criminal records from employment may disparately impact certain protected classes and therefore amount to race or national origin discrimination under Title VII. The agency says employers should evaluate each applicant’s record and assess whether the conviction is job related and a hiring ban is for a justifiable business reason.

Would you hire someone with a criminal conviction?

11/22/2022
The City Council of Atlanta amended its antidiscrimination ordinance to include protections for “criminal history status” and “gender expression.” The ordinance is effective immediately.

Screen your background screener

11/17/2022
Not all background-screening providers are created equal. An employer must confirm their methods and information sources to avoid potentially expensive legal liability if a shoddy background check leads to trouble in the workplace.

Cybervetting: Is it legal?

09/22/2022
Savvy recruiters are increasingly looking for digital footprints to vet prospective candidates. Is it legal?

Support grows for hiring staff with criminal record

11/18/2021
More than two-thirds of 1,100 people surveyed said they’d be comfortable working for an employer if a few of their co-workers had a nonviolent criminal record.

Think twice before Googling for medical info

11/25/2020
It is legally risky to run an internet search to find out more about job applicants, especially if you are looking for information about a medical condition. It’s too easy to find information that should play no role in the hiring process.

Is your organization still hiring? Don’t skip the background check

04/24/2020
With many courts closed and background-checking vendors working at reduced capacity, some employers may be tempted to skip the background check on new hires. But if you’re still hiring, it’s best not to take that shortcut.

Confessing previous firing doesn’t equal defamation

03/02/2020
Potential employers often ask up-front whether an applicant has been fired for cause in the past. Recently, a fired worker tried to claim that having to reveal the past amounted to self-defamation. It didn’t work.

Feds, fed contractors must soon ban the box

01/07/2020
On Dec. 20, President Trump signed into law a measure that will make it unlawful for federal government employers and federal government contractors to ask job applicants about their criminal histories until after they have formally extended a job offer.