Fingerprinting

HR in Arabi

In light of recent DOT and Homeland Security issues, our transportation company is considering fingerprinting employees and new hires. What are the legal requirements surrounding this issue.

Brad Forrister

Well, we could probably write a treatise on this one.

Some states (CA and NY, for instance) have prohibitions or limitations on requiring new hires to undergo fingerprinting. But many, many states have begun requiring fingerprinting for various jobs, from schoolteachers to home health care workers to transportation workers. Of course, INS requires fingerprints for many different purposes.

The only thing I could find in Louisiana is a prohibition on making the applicant bear the cost of fingerprinting.

We have a few articles on fingerprinting requirements, and some of them suggest that you impose the requirement and any accompanying background check only after the offer of employment is made - i.e., make the offer contingent on passing the background check.

Brad Forrister
Director of Publishing
M. Lee Smith Publishers