Background investigations

pdburk · April 2004

We have turned down an applicant because of something that turned up in his background check. How much, if anything, can we tell him about what we found?

deniseE · April 2004

Unless a state law requires you to, I wouldn't tell him anything. You don't want to put yourself in a situation that may appear discriminatory.

Cherrye · April 2004

Under the Section 615 of the Fair Credit Reporting Act(15 U.S.C. SS 1681M) you must provide oral, written, or electronic notification to the applicant of any adverse actions based on the information in the background check. As proof I complied with this regulation I prefer to send written notifcation by certified mail. In this letter you must give the name, address and telephone number of the reporting agency. That agency is required to send him a free copy of the report if it is requested with in 60 days.

Cherrye

safety · April 2004

Any information in the background check or just credit information?

Don D · April 2004

The requirement only applies to that portion of any background check that falls under the FCRA and which is conducted by a third party. An employer who conducts his own employment background, educational verification and reference checks isn't required to reveal anything if something turns up there.

safety · April 2004

OK, we use a third party agency and typically check criminal records, DL verification and history, along with SS number verification. Are these included under the FCRA?

Leslie · April 2004

As the state gaming agency prohibits casinos from hiring anyone with a felony, if anything comes up we discuss it with the applicant immediately. No sense in wasting time. We are very consistent with applicants with our other enterprises even though we are under no such state mandate. However, legal issues are all we discuss. Don't dive into any financial issues.

Don D · April 2004

The law impacts all employers that use an investigator or an agency to perform criminal checks, background investigations or to provide consumer reports on applicants or employees. It protects both applicants and employees. A consumer reporting agency is any person which for a fee assembles or evaluates consumer credit information or other information on consumers for the purpose of furnishing reports to third parties. the applicant or employee also must sign an authorization form before the employer proceeds with any such investigation.

Cherrye · April 2004

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We do not do credit checks, only criminal background checks. It is my understanding that any background investigation in which the information provided to the prospective employer is used as the reason not to hire an applicant then the applicant must be notified, as that constitutes adverse actions. This also includes reports from the DMV. If I do not hire a driver because he has 2 DWI's & a ticket for wreckless driving. I must provide the applicant with name, address & phone number of the 3rd party reporting agency who provide me with the information.

Don D · April 2004

But again, if you do your own in-house, HR-Dept-Type investigations, FCRA does not apply.

Background investigations

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