Whether you are new to the employment background check world or just new to HireSafe it’s normal to have questions about our practices! New and old clients alike have questions about why we use online forms, what goes into the cost of a background check, and what exactly compliance means to them. Over the Month of August, we will be sharing answers to some of the most asked questions and filling you in why we do what we do.

This week we answer, what is compliance? Why is it important and what are the repercussions of noncompliance?

Background screening compliance isn’t just a good idea, it’s the law. We often have clients request clarification on what compliance means, compliance importance at their company and what the repercussions are for noncompliance.

What is Compliance?

Compliance is the most important part of background screening, it involves following the rules and regulations set forth by the Fair Credit Reporting Act and local ordinances. These rules involve many important steps employers must take to ensure they are not fined.

Some laws determine how you can ask about criminal history in the original application. For instance, “Ban the Box” states and cities do not allow employers to ask whether an applicant has a criminal history on the job application.

Other rules set forth by the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) determine the steps necessary to perform a background check. Employers must disclose specific documents to applicants and get their written authorization prior to performing a background check. In addition, when a criminal record might cause your company to not consider the applicant employers must follow the adverse action procedures.

Luckily, HireSafe does some compliance heavy lifting for you. We offer compliant disclosures and retrieve proper authorization for all our background checks. When one of our clients may consider not hiring an applicant due to their criminal record the HireSafe portal has an adverse action procedure to ensure you follow the laws.

Compliance Importance and Noncompliance Repercussions

Compliance isn’t just important because it’s the right thing to do. Your company, your employees and clients are all affected if you get caught for non-compliant background screening. A recent report from WebRecon shows that FCRA lawsuits are up +11.7% over this time in 2017. It is more and more likely that your company becomes the defendant in a lawsuit if you haven’t been using compliant procedures.

We provide some of the more recent compliance lawsuits to represent the amount of money these lawsuits can cost, but the simple fact is you can easily be sued by an applicant who feels slighted by the process your company follows. Attorneys are always on the look out for new clients that may have not been given the correct disclosures for FCRA compliance or weren’t allowed to provide their authorization for the criminal record check.

This means that your company procedures are all that’s standing between you and the court room. If your procedures miss any small compliance regulation, or a manager fails to get the correct disclosure documents to the applicant in the correct order you could be paying thousands or more to that applicant.

There are hundreds of regulations important to background screening that our company is well versed in. That’s why it’s best to leave compliance to the professionals, and with 20 years of service HireSafe knows how to navigate the hiring compliance maze. Check out our background screening packages to see which might fit best, or fill out a free consultation and a background screening expert will get back to you on the best solution for your company!

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