Compliance is the Most Important Part of Employment Background Checks
Understanding the laws and regulations surrounding background checks is the most important part of employment background screening. You might find out a candidate lied on their application or that they have a criminal past that excludes them from employment at your business. However, if you don’t follow the FCRA rules and state regulations you can’t use that information to influence your decision. If you do, you’re opening yourself up to costly lawsuits.
On its own a background check is a powerful tool that allows companies to ensure they hire only the best most qualified candidates. These screenings act as a deterrent for bad employees as well. Candidates who know their past work experience will be checked out are less likely to mislead your company and if they know they could be screened, they won’t even apply with incorrect information. The job market is definitely competitive and unfortunately that means some candidates will mislead you to get ahead. More than that, some candidates may have past that excludes them from employment at your company. Employment screenings are a great way to perform your due diligence when hiring and can protect your company but only if you follow the rules.
When conducting background checks businesses must obey federal and state regulations. The formats provided by HireSafe ensure all of our reports and your company is well within the rules.
The various rules and regulations are determined by state agencies, lawmakers and regulations within the Federal Credit Reporting Act. There are many laws that govern the way background information can be used, or requested:
- The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) vendor and employer requirements.
- Fair and Accurate Credit Transaction (FACT) Act
- Federal Trade Commission regulations
- State laws and regulations requiring specific documents
- State and federal report limitations
- The Driver’s Privacy Protection Act (DPPA)
- The Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (GLBA)
- Department of Transportation regulations
- State consumer privacy laws
- Drug testing requirements
- Federal Trade Commission regulations
- Case law, including cases that interpret the FCRA compliance and state privacy laws
The links above have some of the full texts for these regulations, and as you can see it would be extremely difficult to understand and adhere to those regulations on your own. Just the regulations linked above do not take into account the always changing state laws that are just as important as the federal regulations. We’re here to help you by being your compliance partner as well as your background check partner.
HireSafe stays ahead in FCRA and state compliance because we are located in California, known for its strict employment laws. We stay vigilant when it comes to FCRA compliance to keep your company safe from costly lawsuits. You can read more about how HireSafe keeps our reports and your company compliant, or even learn about how our entirely online system works to keep your data safe and the background check process completely compliant.