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Background Checks Revisited
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Background Checks Revisited
Discuss employment-law issues such as family leave, overtime, disabilities law, harassment, immigration and termination.
On 8/2, I posted a note about background checks and received a response from EpsteinBecker&Green.
I asked follow up questions, but I
don't think they (you) saw them.
So, I'm posting this as a
0
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Forums » Topic Forums » Legal Forum » Background Checks Revisited
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Background Checks Revisited
posted at 8/10/1999 5:36 PM EDT
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Posts: 3
First: 8/1/1999 Last: 8/10/1999 |
On 8/2, I posted a note about background checks and received a response from EpsteinBecker&Green.
I asked follow up questions, but I don't think they (you) saw them. So, I'm posting this as a new question, but you could refer to the notes under 8/2 if you have questions. Additional feedback would be helpful to the questions below. Thanks much! Are you saying there are no federal laws pertaining to this? I have checked the Ohio Revised Code and it only references exponged records and juvenile records. Do you know of anything else I should be checking? You mentioned that 'this rationale does not apply to deferred sentences'. What rationale would apply? Are those treated like convictions? What about the implications of disparate impact according to EEOC case decisions? They seem to consider it 'illegal' to consider arrests in making a hiring decision unless you have a specific business need for doing so and it looked as though it was pretty difficult to prove a business need. Any clarification you can provide would be appreciated. I was a little uncomfortable requesting this of a contractor, if we legally shouldn't be doing this with our own employees. Of course, we are not asking them to make a hiring decision based on this. Just that we wouldn't want them placed at our site. Thanks again for your help in this matter. |
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Background Checks Revisited
posted at 8/12/1999 3:07 AM EDT
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Posts: 2217
First: 6/16/1999 Last: 12/13/2001 |
I am not aware of any federal law prohibiting employers from using criminal arrest information, although you may want to consult a specialist in the area. The Federal Fair Credit Reporting Act governs issues with respect to background checks generally; you may want to take a look at it.
The "rationale" I discussed was a generalized policy consideration regarding why some jurisdictions might not permit employers to look at arrest information-- it was not made in connection with Ohio law on the subject, as I am not an Ohio lawyer. With regard to adverse impact issues, I suppose a plaintiff (or plaintiff class) could argue that members of a protected class are arrested in a statistically disparate fashion, therby putting the burden on the employer to show that use of the arrest information is job related and consistent with business necessity. (This may be why most employment applications say that even conviction of a crime is not necessarily a disqualification for the job, but lying about the conviction is.) |
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