By: Associated Press – August 17, 2014 — WASHINGTON — The IRS failed to do background checks on some private contractors who handled confidential taxpayer information, exposing more than a million taxpayers to an increased risk of fraud and identity theft, a government investigator said. In one case, the IRS gave a printing contractor a computer disk with names, addresses and Social Security numbers of 1.4 million taxpayers, but didn’t require a background check for… [Read More]
Invalid Employment Consumer Report Authorizations?
Thousands of job applicants have filed class action lawsuits, claiming the Defendant Employers’ Authorization forms are invalid because they contain extraneous information. The lawsuits claim the Employers’ Authorization forms contain, among other things: release of liability applicant admission that the applicant has not knowingly withheld any information the application does not create an employment contract the applicant waives the receipt of a copy of any public record Other charges claim the Authorizations are included on… [Read More]
Managing Compliance Issues
POEknows has recently updated our Employment Consumer Report Authorization and Employment Disclosure forms. Due to the growing number of employers that are being targeted for class action lawsuits, we analyzed the allegations and we are recommending changes in order to ensure that our clients are utilizing authorization forms that follow, strictly, the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA). According to reports on the latest class action lawsuit against a major market retailer, this retailer was not… [Read More]
Credibility Interview
Criminal background checks and credit reports are a large part of Pre-Employment investigative consumer reports. There is security in knowing that the information being reported to your company for your applicants is as accurate as possible. How do you know that the prospective employee, Robert Brown, does not have an extensive criminal record that will affect his job placement? POE vets every single record in an applicant’s name. POE offers a service that most major… [Read More]
Individualized Assessments – 2014-04-21b
New York Attorney General, Eric T. Schneiderman announced in April 2014 that his office has secured agreements with four of the nation’s largest consumer reporting agencies (CRA’s). The agreements prohibit the agencies from automatically disqualifying applicants with criminal convictions and require the agencies to defer hiring decisions to employers who must conduct an individualized consideration of candidates in accordance with New York State law. Under the agreements, New York law now makes it illegal to… [Read More]