The Equal Employment Opportunities Commission has issued new enforcement guidance on employers' use of criminal history in employment decisions. The Commission adopted the new guidance by a vote of 4 to 1 on April 25. The new guidance and related documents are available on the EEOC's website at:

·         EEOC Press Release;

·         Consideration of Arrest and Conviction Records in Employment Decisions Under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1984 (html);

·         Consideration of Arrest and Conviction Records in Employment Decisions Under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1984 (pdf), and

·         Questions and Answers About the EEOC’s Enforcement Guidance on the Consideration of Arrest and Conviction Records in Employment Decisions Under Title VII.

Industry and legal commentary on the new guidance has generally found that the guidance does not prohibit employers use of criminal history and does not pose severe barriers. Thus far, commentary notes that employers will need to review their policies and processes and raises concerns about potential conflicts between state laws and the EEOC guidance. These commentaries include:

·         Commentary from a Human Resources Executive;

·         Detailed Commentary from Seyfarth Shaw;

·         Society for Human Resource Management Regulatory Alert, and

·         Commentary from the Society for Human Resource Management.

MSNBC’s Dateline program recently featured childcare workers across the country and the fact that there were criminals, many with a violent past that were licensed to take care of children. Some of the crimes that these people had been convicted of included child abuse, assault and even homicide. Several of these people were caring for children that lived in low-income situations, so even their own salaries were even paid by the state. When told about this situation, the parents of these children were absolutely shocked that criminals were taking care of their children. They had assumed that before being licensed, their state agencies would have performed background checks and eliminated these people from taking care of their children. This, however, is not always the case.

The truth is, every state is still allowed  to enact their own laws and regulations when it comes to background checks for those who take care of children. Some have no regulations at all while others have very strict background check procedures that childcare workers must go through before being licensed. Only half of states in the US require a background check and fingerprints for child care workers and only 10 states actually require fingerprinting before federal funds can be used to pay for these childcare workers. Fingerprinting typically gives access to a national search vs. just a local state wide search. This inconsistency leaves the door wide open for anyone with a criminal past to not only take care of children, but to also get paid for their work with federal money.

States with the most stringent regulations, like New York, not only put their licensed childcare workers through a full national criminal background check based on the FBI’s records in order to eliminate those who may have a history of criminal activity.

One thing that can be done, however, is for agencies that provide these childcare workers to carry out full background checks themselves. Using companies like backgroundchecks.com can help eliminate those who have criminal backgrounds. Using their US OneSEARCH product, agencies not only get immediate access to searches of sex offender registries, but they can also cast a much wider net across every state in the nation in multiple to search for criminal records. When using a company such as this, companies who hire childcare workers can help reduce the chances that children will be cared for by people with the wrong criminal background.

About backgroundchecks.com -

backgroundchecks.com - a founding member of the National Association of Professional Background Screeners (NAPBS®) - serves thousands of customers nationwide, from small businesses to Fortune 100 companies by providing comprehensive screening services.  Headquartered in Dallas, Texas, with an Eastern Operations Center in Chapin, S.C., backgroundchecks.com is home to one of the largest online criminal conviction databases in the industry. For more information about backgroundchecks’ offerings, please visit www.backgroundchecks.com.

Source: http://www.romesentinel.com/news?newsid=20120310-142121

The EEOC has recently made available an opinion letter on the Americans with Disability Act (ADA) and its effect on hiring practices.

As with all other protected classes (e.g. race, gender, age), hiring criteria that have a disparate impact on those with disabilities are only allowed only if job-related and necessary.

In the specific scenario referenced in the letter, the EEOC states that “Under the ADA, a qualification standard, test, or other selection criterion, such as a high school diploma requirement, that screens out an individual or a class of individuals on the basis of a disability must be job related for the position in question and consistent with business necessity. A qualification standard is job related and consistent with business necessity if it accurately measures the ability to perform the job’s essential functions (i.e. its fundamental duties).”

According to the EEOC, the main difference under the ADA (compared to other anti-discrimination laws) is, “Even where a challenged qualification standard, test, or other selection criterion is job related and consistent with business necessity, if it screens out an individual on the basis of disability, an employer must also demonstrate that the standard or criterion cannot be met, and the job cannot be performed, with a reasonable accommodation.”

Employers should review their hiring criteria and determine whether each job requirement is necessary for the job to be done properly and eliminate those job requirements that are not necessary.

For more information on how this may affect your screening program and how backgroundchecks.com can help, please contact our client relationship representatives.