Employer Background Check

“Taking the guesswork out of hiring your next employee” is the most often-used phrase to “market” or highlight the benefits of an employer background check. This is by far the most common use, next to criminal background checks in the general populace and business communities.

Employer background checks are governed in the US by laws and regulations. The federal Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) sets the national standard for employers who want to find out more about an applicant or current employee. Sometimes mistaken for the credit reporting law, the FCRA covers much more than credit reports. It is enforced by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC)

The FCRA covers “consumer reports.” In addition to credit worthiness information, it covers information about a person’s “character, general reputation, personal characteristics, and mode of living.” This is the type of information you as an employer usually want to know and see in the employer background check, before making important decisions about an applicant or employee. Thus, whether a credit check is included or not, an employment background check is a type of “consumer report” that is covered by the FCRA. Buyer and business owner alike Be aware and BEWARE: For an employment background check to qualify as a “consumer report” under the FCRA, it must be prepared by a third-party consumer reporting agency consult an expert for more details: peoplefind.com/background_search.htm

“Background check” is a very commonly used term utilized by industry and public alike to describe any one or a combination of reports collected about individuals for employment purposes. The technical term used by the FCRA for a collection of such data is a “consumer report,” defined as “…any written, oral, or other communication of any information by a consumer reporting agency bearing on a consumer’s credit worthiness, credit standing, credit capacity, character, general reputation, personal characteristics, or mode of living….”. (15 USC §1681a(d)(1))

Nobody requires by law that employers conduct background checks, ,for some positions however a criminal background check will be appropriate legislated and required like working with the elderly, children or disabled or as a trucker. Employers can obtain lots of information from the public domain in an employer background check like : credit history, past employment, professional licenses,

criminal records, education, workers’ compensation, driving records, references and even medical history in some cases.

In addition to these guiding principles and laws, there are also other stipulations/laws that might apply – to learn more about these below or any other implications for employers background checks check with your resident verification specialist and trusted source at www.peoplefind.com/

What other laws might cover background checks? In addition to labor or employment laws, screening of job applications or current employees may overlap other laws, such as:

Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) (20 U.S.C. §1232g; 34 CFR Part 99). FERPA controls the release of information from education records. For more on FERPA, see the web site for the U.S. Department of Education, www.ed.gov/offices/OII/fpco/ferpa.

Americans with Disabilities Act (42 USC §12101), www.eeoc.gov/laws/ada.html

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42 USC 2000e), www.eeoc.gov/laws/vii.html

Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 (29 USC §621), www.eeoc.gov/laws/adea.html