Employers who conduct employment background checks, also known as consumer reports and/or investigative consumer reports, as part of the employment process, which includes hiring, promotion, and retention, must comply with Federal law requirements under section 604 of the Fair Credit Reporting Act, (FCRA). Before rejecting a job applicant, denying a promotion or terminating an employee based in whole or in part on information obtained in a consumer report, employers are obligated under the FCRA to… [Read More]
Revised Authorizations & Disclosures
Why the Revisions???? Between January 2015 and June 2015, over 1500 FCRA related Class Action Lawsuits were filed. According to Top Class Actions, among the companies which have been named as Defendants in FCRA related class Action Lawsuits in 2014 and 2015 are the following: Pizza Hut Whole Foods Dollar General Home Depot Publix Super markets UBS Financial Services Allegis Group, Inc. Aerotek Avis Michaels Stores, Inc. Wells Fargo Bank Some of these cases have… [Read More]
2nd Chance Program – Individualized Assessments
POE wants to thank Sarah Callander and Mary-Denise Davis of the Office of the Public Defender, for allowing us to attend the 5th Annual Back to the Neighborhood: How to Succeed with a Criminal Record, an event sponsored by the Office of Public Defender and the Justice Policy Institute. Attendees of this July 23, 2015 event took part in community dialogues, learned about current practices and were offered legal assistance. POE sat in on a… [Read More]
Violating Federally Required Red Flag Regulation Program?
Employers and property managers/owners are required by federal law to identify, detect, respond and resolve Red Flag discrepancies, when screening prospective employees and prospective residents. The purpose of the Program is to prevent and mitigate Identity Theft and Identity Fraud. Resolving the Red Flag discrepancies is a relative easy, administrative type action, but it must be done. You and all end users of the consumer reports or investigative consumer reports are charged with doing so…. [Read More]
Compliance Program Committee (CPC) meetings.
The vast majority of recent FCRA related class action law suits, and there are MANY, claim Authorization/Disclosure violations or non-adherence to Adverse Action Notification regulations. The Class Action litigation alleges Authorizations/Disclosures are non-compliant, in part, because Companies insert “extraneous information” within the body of the Authorizations (e.g. waivers, acknowledgments, etc.). POE requested and received guidance from the DC Law Office of Arnall, Golden & Gregory, LLP, in revising the Authorizations & Disclosures that we recommend… [Read More]
Screening Process Considerations
Did you know that an important consideration for a non-profit or business owners is to place the right people into the positions you need. Sometimes, human error, the stress of running a business or simply the sense that you want to replace the empty position immediately can cause mistakes. Here are a few items to consider when screening potential employees or volunteers: Follow all steps in the screening process – do not skip areas to… [Read More]