Uber Background Check Failures are a Warning for Small Company Employee Screening
On February 8th a court will visit the proposed $7.5 Million settlement as part of a class action lawsuit between Uber and terminated drivers regarding violations of FCRA regulations. According to Locke Lloyd, The court will make the final decision on the proposed settlement. After the court made a preliminary approval of the settlement over a million class members were given notice. From that only 100,000 filled out valid forms.
Class action was filed after Uber ran background checks and denied employment for drivers without gaining prior authorization, or giving the disclosures required under the FCRA.
Despite those clear violations the settlement offer was quite low. Uber believes that this settlement is reasonable seeing as the Uber drivers are contractors and therefore not considered under the FCRA.
While the facts of the case may be left undecided the cost is very clear, Uber is having to pay this settlement to avoid further litigation on something it was caught doing incorrectly.
Recently Uber was also caught hiring drivers without running adequate background checks. A CNN Article even challenged their vetting process for allowing terrorists to work for their company. A USA Today report alleges woman were sexually assaulted by Uber drivers. Again, this called into question the quality of the Uber background check process.
Uber has the unfortunate circumstance of putting their customers in danger by hiring under vetted drivers while also violating the driver’s rights by running background checks on them without disclosures and authorization.
While Uber clearly has issues with background checks they are a huge company and have entire divisions devoted to screening employees and meeting legal requirements. If Uber can violate regulations and put customers at risk as company with all the necessary resources imagine how easily a small company can find themselves in legal or ethical trouble.
Small companies do not have the same resources, departments or legal groups to ensure the background check process is adequate and compliant. That’s why it is important to understand the basic requirements of background check compliance. Ensuring your company is compliant with the latest FCRA regulations and any local ordinances or state laws is vital to avoiding lawsuits. HireSafe offers electronic authorization forms and disclosures that fulfill the FCRA requirements without extra worry for you. Check our out most popular packages to get started!