Employment Screening and Criminal Background Checks New York
I alluded to something called the Office of Court Administration (OCA) in a post earlier this week concerning criminal background checks in the state of New York. The OCA is a topic that affects any employer that wishes to conduct a background check in New York. It is especially abhorred by those that primarily hire in this area.
The OCA was established in July, 2003 as a way to consolidate court records from each of New York's Upper and Lower Courts. Many, including myself believe that the allure of doing so was to create a lucrative revenue stream. Upon it's creation 16 counties including the New York City burroughs disallowed access to their records, instead directing those seeking public records to the OCA. Further, the lower county and municiple courts shut off access as well.
What is the OCA good for? The OCA is a one-stop shop for a criminal background check. One search will give will every felony and misdemeanor conviction for the entire state. Furthermore, results are usually reported within 24 hours. You would think employers would be bowing to the state for creating such a system.
Here's the rub. The state decided to charge an access fee of $52.00 per name. Homer Simpson might say "DOH!". This is by far and away the largest access fee charged in the country for obtaining a public record and can make the process of employment screening cost prohibitive for some employers. And by the way, that's just the access fee. That doesn't cover the fee employers pay to the Consumer Reporting Agency (background checking company).
Is there a way around it? No. If your applicant has lived in one of the 16 counties that has completely shut off access, this is the only game in town. If the applicant has lived in a county that does not block access, they can do a felony-only search in that county's Upper Court. While this will produce felony records, misdemeanors cannot be identified without utilizing the OCA system.
Here's a list of OCA-only Counties:
Allegany
Bronx
Cayuga
Cortland
Delaware
Fulton
Hamilton
Kings
Montgomery
Nassau
New York
Orleans
Putnum
Queens
Richmond
The OCA was established in July, 2003 as a way to consolidate court records from each of New York's Upper and Lower Courts. Many, including myself believe that the allure of doing so was to create a lucrative revenue stream. Upon it's creation 16 counties including the New York City burroughs disallowed access to their records, instead directing those seeking public records to the OCA. Further, the lower county and municiple courts shut off access as well.
What is the OCA good for? The OCA is a one-stop shop for a criminal background check. One search will give will every felony and misdemeanor conviction for the entire state. Furthermore, results are usually reported within 24 hours. You would think employers would be bowing to the state for creating such a system.
Here's the rub. The state decided to charge an access fee of $52.00 per name. Homer Simpson might say "DOH!". This is by far and away the largest access fee charged in the country for obtaining a public record and can make the process of employment screening cost prohibitive for some employers. And by the way, that's just the access fee. That doesn't cover the fee employers pay to the Consumer Reporting Agency (background checking company).
Is there a way around it? No. If your applicant has lived in one of the 16 counties that has completely shut off access, this is the only game in town. If the applicant has lived in a county that does not block access, they can do a felony-only search in that county's Upper Court. While this will produce felony records, misdemeanors cannot be identified without utilizing the OCA system.
Here's a list of OCA-only Counties:
Allegany
Bronx
Cayuga
Cortland
Delaware
Fulton
Hamilton
Kings
Montgomery
Nassau
New York
Orleans
Putnum
Queens
Richmond
Labels: Background Checks in States
posted by Nick Fishman @ 12:37 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home