EmployeeScreenIQ Blog

Last month, we released our official 2013 Employment Background Check Trends Survey report.  The report includes findings from nearly 1,000 Human Resources professionals in various industries across the United States, who responded to our survey on background checks for employment at the end of 2012 and the beginning of 2013.

Anyone who has followed this blog knows that we’ve dedicated a lot of time over the last 12 months discussing the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s new guidance to employers on the use of criminal background checks.  So, as the one year anniversary of this legislation (I mean guidance:)) is upon us, I thought we could review how our survey respondents characterized their knowledge of the guidance and how their companies have responded.

The new EEOC guidance on criminal background checks (released April 2012) has caused my organization to:

April 2012 EEOC Guidance

Of the nearly 70% of respondents who said that their organizations have reviewed the EEOC guidance on criminal background checks, slightly more than half of them have not made changes to their pre-employment background screening policies based on that guidance, while slightly less than half have made changes. More noteworthy, however, is the 32% of respondents who either aren’t familiar with or haven’t reviewed the EEOC’s guidance.

Last week, I was fortunate enough to hear the one EEOC commissioner who dissented from the guidance, Constance Barker, speak about what what we’ve learned about the new guidance over the past year.  My colleague Angela Preston, wrote the following about Commissioner Barker’s remarks:

A year has passed, and little has changed. Barker made it clear that the EEOC is still very committed to increased enforcement, and will continue to pursue “systemic” cases, where a pattern or practice has a broad impact on a large population though disparate impact theory.  As she put it, the EEOC criminal guidance starts with the premise that, if you are conducting criminal background checks, there is presumption that you are discriminating. Until this premise has been successfully challenged in court, employers need to be prepared to defend class action suits.

 But it’s only guidance, right? The EEOC, by design, does not have authority to write rules or regulations.  But as Barker pointed out, until a court says it will not apply the guidance, the guidance has the effect of a regulation. And once a court is persuaded by and cites to the guidance, it becomes law. We knew it would take some time for the guidance to be addressed by the courts, and we are still waiting for pending litigation to shed some light on the effect of the guidance.

We would strongly encourage employers to familiarize themselves with the new guidance and evaluate their organizations’ policies and practices.

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Imagine that you are diligently working at your job when you receive a letter from your employer telling you that you have been suspended due to a criminal record that was found on your employment background check.  That’s sucks, but if you are responsible for caring for children at a school, you kind of know that they take these things seriously.

But hold on a minute, you’ve never committed a crime in your life and the records that were reported belong to someone with the same last name.  Well, that can be irritating.  And then, you are forced to prove that those records don’t actually belong to you.  That’s probably where your patience begins to wear thin. [...]

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Last month, we released our official 2013 Employment Background Check Trends Survey report.  The report includes findings from nearly 1,000 Human Resources professionals in various industries across the United States, who responded to our survey on background checks for employment at the end of 2012 and the beginning of 2013.

One of the findings highlighted employers’ use of social media employment background checks to determine hiring eligibility (those statistics are listed below for your review).

Today, I want to highlight the follow up question to those who said that they did not employ the use of this background screening tool.  We wanted to know why.  Check out the response. [...]

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We are proud to announce that EmployeeScreenIQ has been recognized as a 2013 World Class Customer Service Organization by SmartBusiness Magazine. This is the third time we have achieved this esteemed recognition.

The World Class Customer Service awards honor companies for their superior customer service. The program serves to raise awareness of the importance of customer service in the business world, recognize organizations that demonstrate exceptional customer service and share best practices in customer service from those that do it best.

Not only do we feel that this distinction recognizes our commitment to providing our clients with an unparalleled user experience but also that it validates our ‘No Shortcuts’ philosophy when it comes to employment background checks.

This is a huge honor for us because the award is largely based on feedback provided by our clients.  We value our clients and the trust they place in us to operate their employment screening programs.  We try to demonstrate it every day and it is an honor to be recognized for something we feel should be a common standard of care.

We have always believed that service is an important factor in how human resource professionals and talent management executives select and retain pre-employment screening providers and will continue to raise the bar in this regard.

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Last month, we released our official 2013 Employment Background Check Trends Survey report.  The report includes findings from nearly 1,000 Human Resources professionals in various industries across the United States, who responded to our survey on background checks for employment at the end of 2012 and the beginning of 2013.

One of the questions we asked was if their organization asks candidates to self-disclose past criminal history on their job applications.

Despite the guidance issued by the EEOC in April of 2012—recommending that employers should not ask candidates about convictions on job applications—79% of respondents say they are continuing to do so (see chart below). [...]

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Earlier this month, we released our official 2013 Employment Background Screening Trends Survey report.  The report includes findings from nearly 1,000 HR professionals in various industries across the United States, who responded to our survey on employee background checks at the end of 2012 and the beginning of 2013.

Among this year’s key findings was whether employers are really consulting social media profiles as part of the pre-employment background screening process and if not, why?

Given the business world’s enthusiastic embrace of social media and social networking sites, it was surprising to see that 64% of respondents said they never review social networking websites as part of their background screening process. In fact, this year’s percentage was even higher than last year’s (52%). Only 7% of respondents this year said that they always consult social sites—down from 9% in last year’s survey.

These results once again show how divided employers continue to be when it comes to social media as a source of background information. The findings also again refute the common perception that all employers spend their time pouring over the online activities of workers and potential new hires.

Tips for Those That Conduct Social Media Background Checks

• Develop a social media policy
• Be transparent with your candidates and let them know what you are looking for
• If you use a third-party to conduct this search, you might follow proper Fair Credit Reporting Act procedures
• Assign the responsibility of making an adverse hiring decision to someone other than the person who has conducted the search

Download the entire 2013 Trends Survey Here

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Earlier this month, we released our official 2013 Employment Background Screening Trends Survey report.  The report includes findings from nearly 1,000 HR professionals in various industries across the United States, who responded to our survey on employee background checks at the end of 2012 and the beginning of 2013.

Among this year’s key findings were the types of criminal records found on an employment background check that would disqualify a candidate from employment.

Given the legal and privacy issues that abound in today’s business world, employers continue to engage in a delicate balancing act—juggling the needs and protecting the interests of shareholders, partners, customers and their workforces. As we have reported in past years, criminal conduct (e.g., workplace violence, fraud, theft, sabotage of computer systems, etc.) can have profound effects on an organization’s reputation, its ability to compete for talent and its bottom line.

Therefore, it’s not surprising that respondents showed greatest concern over felony convictions related to crimes of violence, theft and dishonesty. It is worth noting, however, that their concern dropped substantially regarding drug/alcohol felony convictions. This same drop off occurred related to misdemeanor convictions, with respondents showing significantly greater concern for misdemeanor convictions regarding crimes of violence, theft and dishonesty as opposed to drug/alcohol misdemeanor convictions.

Here’s some quick advice for employers when it comes to evaluating candidates with criminal records:

• Avoid to the extent possible any automatic disqualifiers or brightline hiring decisions
• Evaluate how the negative information relates to job in which the candidate is being considered
• Consider the recency and severity of the offense and whether the person is a habitual offender
• Conduct an individual assessment which includes allowing the candidate to provide further explanation
• If you still chose not to hire the candidate, make sure to follow the proper Adverse Action procedures

Download the entire 2013 Trends Survey Here

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For those of you interested in keeping up with the latest in pre-employment background screening compliance and the laws that affect your use of  employee background checks, check out our latest publication, “BTW: Your Guide to Staying Out of Hot Water“.  This compliance resource has been crafted by our VP of Compliance and General Counsel, Angela Preston and is a must-read for human resources and security professionals.

Our March issue focuses on issues of consumer privacy particularly as it relates to employers request of their candidates’ social media passwords.  While we don’t believe many employers engage in this practice as part of their employment background check policies, congress seems poised to create a federal law banning such a request.  We also take a close look at a recent $3 million FCRA settlement and the trend of local/state governments adopting “Ban the Box” measures.  For a preview of this issue, check out Angela’s video below.

Review March Issue

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Last week, we released our official 2013 Employment Background Screening Trends Survey report.  The report includes findings from nearly 1,000 HR professionals in various industries across the United States, who responded to our survey on employee background checks at the end of 2012 and the beginning of 2013.

Among this year’s key findings was sentiment that criminal records are not necessarily deal-breakers when it comes to hiring candidates. [...]

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EmployeeScreenIQ polled nearly 1,000 HR professionals to uncover how background screening practices within their organizations have evolved in order to incorporate these new regulations into their program while balancing the need to protect their company.

Last week we held a webinar to discuss our top findings, “992 Heads Are Better Than One: Balancing Applicant Rights and What Employers Need to Know”, and we invite you to download the recording.   Be among the first to hear the results of this survey and benchmark our findings with your policies and practices.

Download the Recording

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