Pre-Employment Background Screening: FCRA, EEOC, Ban-the-Box, State and Local Law Compliance

An increasing number of state and city legislatures have enacted a patchwork of laws barring or limiting employers’ use of credit and criminal background checks for job candidates. Employers that fail to comply with the new restrictions risk multimillion dollar class action lawsuits.

When pre-screening applicants, employers must balance their interest in avoiding negligent hiring and retention claims against myriad rights of applicants under federal, state and local laws.

Employment counsel should guide employers in weighing whether the benefits of obtaining a comprehensive background check outweigh potential liability for violating employment laws. Counsel can also assist employers with developing effective and compliant screening policies.

Listen as our authoritative panel examines the legal risks associated with pre-employment background checks in light of increasing state and local legislation restricting credit and criminal checks. The panel will review the rise in credit check bans and ban-the-box laws, how these laws interact with the FCRA, and how to structure hiring policies and procedures that minimize liability exposure.

1. Recent legal developments
   1. Ban-the-box initiatives
   2. State and local credit check bans
   3. Use of criminal background checks
2. Interplay with FCRA obligations
3. Best practices
   1. Establishing policies on what information can be collected and used
   2. Enforcing policies consistently and uniformly
   3. Training managers, supervisors and employees on company policy
   4. Using recruiters in hiring—joint employer liability
   5. Using social media in hiring

The panel will review these and other key issues:

• How should employers with operations in multiple jurisdictions protect themselves against the patchwork of federal, state and local laws?
• How can employers balance their duty to conduct due diligence background checks on applicants against their duty not to discriminate in employment decisions?
• What are best practices for employers when developing and implementing policies for the use of credit records, criminal histories and social networking sites in hiring decisions?