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A Comprehensive Review of Screening Compliance

In the world of background checks, compliance is a must. It’s simply a fact of life for both Consumer Reporting Agencies (CRAs) and any organization or business that screens consumers. A nuanced topic though it may be, this article sheds light on the industry-, permissible purpose-, and location-specific requirements that may apply to you. Of course, this article is only a starting point for ensuring your organization complies with background screening laws; consider discussing further with your legal counsel.

Below, we’ve broken down the most important factors to allow you to hone in on what’s relevant to your organization.

Rules & Regulations

Background screening compliance is a joint effort between the CRA who provides the report, the furnishers of data that end up in some reports, and the end user who procures the report. Different regulations and obligations apply to each type of entity, and two federal agencies—the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB)—are charged with enforcing them.

Background screening companies can also become accredited by the Professional Background Screening Association’s (PBSA’s) Background Screening Agency Accreditation Program (BSAAP). In short, accredited CRAs like us are committed to excellence and delivering the highest level of standards in six critical areas through accountability and continuous improvement of policies and procedures. For more information about this designation and the process of achieving it, check out our PBSA Accreditation page.

Of course, every business is part of an industry—some of which have specific requirements regarding background checks and additional searches (credit history, social media, USDOT, etc.). Organizations in education, finance, healthcare, or transportation (to name a few) need to adhere to specific constraints regarding hiring and continued employment practices. If you have questions about the specifics of your industry, check with your legal counsel.

End User Responsibilities

When working with an accredited background check company, companies must agree to several policies as end users. These may include, but are not limited to:

  • Reports won’t be used to violate the law
  • Consent has been given by applicants
  • Reports will be used confidentially
  • You won’t sell or disclose information to a third party
  • Applicant identities are confirmed

Further, a permissible purpose must be present to run a background check. Most often this is a Written Instruction for site access or personal screening, a Legitimate Business Need like tenant screening, or for Employment such as hiring, promotion, or retention. No matter the purpose, the organization must first be credentialed before they’re allowed to order a report. Most often, this process involves verifying business information, licenses, and tax documents; it may occasionally require an on-site inspection as well.

State-Specific Legislations

Among the myriad of laws and regulations are two that have been taking the country by storm in recent years: Clean Slate and Ban the Box laws. Essentially, these are legislations passed by individual states to limit the amount of information employers can use to deny individuals employment based on criminal history. The former removes eligible offenses from an individual’s criminal record once they’ve completed their sentence and any post-sentence requirements such as parole or probation and have committed any re-offenses. The latter provides certain procedures regarding criminal history inquiries during the application process and, in some cases, limits employers from asking about criminal history on job applications altogether.

To learn more about these measures and if/how they affect your state, read our previous coverage on these subjects here:

Additional Obligations

Accompanying the larger regulations at play are additional necessary forms and procedures. Each carries its own significance and it’s important not to neglect them:

Disclosure & Authorization forms ensure applicants consent to being screened. All candidates must complete this form either on paper or electronically, it must be up to date, and it must include what will and may be searched.

Adverse Action means rescinding a job offer due to the results of a background check. This is a two-step process where a letter is sent to the applicant in advance to give them time to review the accuracy and completeness of their report and a chance to dispute inaccuracies.

If a prospective hire chooses to dispute information on their report, the CRA is required to perform a re-investigation and notify the furnishers of the data in question. Both the end user and applicant will be notified of the results of said re-investigation.

In summary, compliance should always be top of mind. Your organization needs to adhere to state and industry regulations, be properly credentialed, follow agreed-upon policies and procedures, and provide candidates with the tools they need to ensure their report is accurate.

For questions related to industry-specific standards, consult your legal adviser. For additional information, check out the Society for Human Resource Management’s website or our archive of compliance coverage.

Why is Rescreening Important?

These days most organizations typically have a standard process for screening staff prior to onboarding. According to a 2021 study by Aptitude Research, nearly 80% of organizations are screening staff members before onboarding.

What happens to these staff after you onboard them? Sure, many HR Departments have a policy in place that may require team members to self-report incidents, but how do you know that’s really happening?

In the past decade, rescreening staff has become a hot topic. More and more companies are minimizing the gaps in the safety of their staff by rescreening, and it’s only growing in popularity.

Why should you rescreen?

Rescreening and monitoring staff backgrounds can be considered for various reasons. These can include, but aren’t limited to:

  • Promotion or change in responsibilities: Employees gain access to company finances, credit cards, or building keys.
  • Maintaining company standards: You screened your staff or volunteers before onboarding them, and now you want to ensure they are being held to those same standards.
  • Industry or compliance requirements: Many industries like healthcare, education, or transportation have ongoing screening requirements.

We see organizations with a variety of industry requirements or internal policies in place. This could include annual rescreening of all team members; some conduct it every two to three years and others utilize ongoing monitoring solutions that are run monthly. Others only do it when there is a promotion or change in the company structure. No matter your process…

Don’t forget compliance!

Any rescreening or continuous monitoring must still comply with the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA). Ensure your organization is following federal and state laws regarding disclosure and authorization. Additionally, if the results of a rescreen create a scenario where you will separate from that individual, be sure you are following the adverse action process.

If you want to include authorization to allow for ongoing screening throughout their time with the company, this must be stated clearly in the initial disclosure. As always, we recommend consulting your legal counsel to ensure your forms are compliant and up to date.

I want to rescreen; what are my options?

When it comes to rescreening, One Source has several options:

  1. Batch Upload: We work with you to establish a rescreening package to meet your standards. Whether this is the complete criminal background, healthcare exclusions, motor vehicle records, or something else, we can customize it to fit your needs. Applicants can then be uploaded directly into our system to be run. Frequency is then up to you.
  2. Continuous Criminal Monitoring: This is an automated search of over 650 million records, including a Global Report, Multi-Court Jurisdictional Database, and National Sex Offender Registry search. The individuals you enroll in monitoring will automatically search for new records at the beginning of each month. Results will be verified by our team to ensure accuracy and the report will be provided back to you.
  3. Other Monitoring Solutions: Outside of criminal monitoring, One Source can also monitor through other screening solutions, including healthcare monitoring and social media monitoring.

Ready to get started?

Incorporating rescreening or continuous monitoring into your screening process could be the difference in creating a safer environment for your organization. To keep the trust between you and your team members, make sure your continuous monitoring policy is clearly stated when they are onboarded, and then remind them on an annual basis. When you start your continuous monitoring, you want to have shared expectations between you and your team members. If you are interested in learning more or would like to add this service to your process, contact us.

For more information on background screening, check out more of our blog or get in touch today.

Ban the Box Updates: What Employers Need to Know

This article was originally published in June 2022. Updated November 2023.

By now, most HR professionals and hiring managers have heard of Ban the Box and the legislation that’s sweeping the nation. So, what are you doing to prepare for these changes? Are you confident that your onboarding process is up to date and compliant with the laws in place? Here we will help guide you in the direction to make sure your team is prepared for what is to come.

What are Ban the Box Laws?

In simplest terms, Ban the Box means that employers cannot ask on a job application or in certain parts of the hiring process about criminal history. For example, blanket statements like, “have you ever been convicted of a crime.”

These laws aim to put employers’ focus on applicants’ qualifications first, without blanket no-hire policies due to past criminal activity. In most cases, employers must wait until a conditional offer of employment is extended before asking about criminal history or conducting a background check.

On December 20, 2021, Congress enacted the Fair Chance Act. The purpose of the act is to give previous offenders a chance to find work in the United States Federal Government. The Fair Chance Act will “Ban the Box” asking about arrest and conviction history on job applicants for most Federal agencies and contractors. These questions and the background check cannot be started until the conditional job offer has been extended.

What steps can you take to be compliant?

Navigating Ban the Box laws can be confusing. We recommend, as a first step, consulting with your legal counsel. They’ll be able to look at your company profile, industry, and location to see what Ban the Box laws apply to you.

You’ll want to take that information and then review your job descriptions and applications. You’ll also want to be sure your hiring managers only ask about the criminal history during the correct time in the hiring process.

Whether these laws will apply to your organization depends on several factors:

  • Company size
  • Location(s) you hire in (city, county, and state)
  • Industry (different regulations can apply to education, childcare, health care, law enforcement, etc.)
  • Public vs private employer

Currently, 37 states and over 150 cities and counties have adopted similar laws.

While public employers appear to be moving to Ban the Box quicker than private employers, the lists continue to grow.

Currently, 15 states have Ban the Box laws in place for private employers. These include:

California, Colorado, Connecticut, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Washington.

Furthermore, over 20 cities and counties have Ban the Box laws in place for private employers. Some of these include:

Austin, TX; Baltimore, MD; Buffalo, NY; Chicago, IL; Columbia, MO; DeSoto, TX; District of Columbia; Kansas City, MO; Los Angeles, CA; Montgomery County, MD; New York­, NY; Philadelphia, PA; Portland, OR; Prince George’s County, MD; Rochester, NY; San Francisco, CA; Seattle, WA; Spokane, WA; St. Louis, MO; Suffolk County, NY; Waterloo, IA; and Westchester County, NY.

Check out the National Employment Law Project’s (NELP) detailed chart to see whether your city, county, or state has a policy or law.

What’s next?

It’s important to remember that background checks are still a crucial part of the hiring process. Not even the Federal Government, which has adopted Ban the Box entirely, is removing background screening from their hiring process. The safety of your employees, customers, and your organization’s reputation is still essential.

As these laws continue to sweep the country, it’s always best practice to ensure that your background check process is updated. Then, when it’s time to run the background check after a conditional job offer, you can keep things moving quickly.

One Source always recommends reviewing these five areas:

  • Background Check Policy
  • Disclosure
  • Authorization
  • Quality of Data
  • Adverse Action

Reach out to our team if you have any questions on ways you can follow compliance laws and regulations. Or you can learn more about how to stay compliant through our blog, Blueprint to a Compliant Background Check Process.

 

3 Reasons Why Companies Should Utilize Social Media Checks

The gold standard in background screening has traditionally been the pre-employment background check on a candidate before extending an offer. Times have changed, though, and so has the information available to onboarding managers.

While it’s important to know if your potential hire has been convicted of a felony or misdemeanor, falsified employment, or education information, etc., you may also want a glimpse at any possible behavioral issues the candidate exhibits that could put your organization, clients, or team members at risk.

A great way to gather this information is through Social Media Screening. Whether it’s Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, or a scan of media and news outlets, it feels almost natural to pursue someone’s social media for a closer look into their life. Here are three reasons why many of our clients utilize Social Media Screening.

Enhance Safety Within the Organization

It’s crucial, and social media checks can aid in this process during onboarding. These checks offer information on applicants’ social media accounts to provide a more precise picture of their behaviors and personality online and limit the risk of onboarding those who don’t align with the basic code of conduct or your core values. Illegal activity, violence, or sexually explicit material posted on their accounts is flagged, shared on the report, and sent to the onboarding manager to review.

Prevents Potential Discrimination Accusations

Outsource. Outsource. Outsource. Outsourcing your social media screening can help diminish potential workplace discrimination during the onboarding process. Scrolling through an applicant’s account can put you in a sticky situation if you try to do the screenings yourself. You want to make sure you have an unbiased view so you don’t encounter compliance issues.

It can also go the other way. Suppose an applicant’s account shows potential issues involving race, sexual orientation, gender, religion, or age discrimination. Social Media checks will flag the content for review, so you don’t risk onboarding that individual.

Prevents Reputation Risks

Your team members are the face of your company and what you stand for. When they aren’t at work, anything they do or say can reflect on your company, good or bad. There is a lot of pressure for companies to be consistent with their policies and values with an online presence. Social media checks can show how an individual presents themselves to the internet – meaning you can see a report of any flagged content that might not align with your company’s values and could make your company look bad.

To learn more about Social Media Screening, check out Should social media checks be included in screenings or contact our Client Relations Team.

Personal Identifiable Information (PII) Protocol Updates

Tightening access and privacy on personal identifiable information (PII) is always top of mind in the screening industry. In response to the national trend to increase PII privacy, adjustments are being made, implementing stricter PII protocols for their courthouses. Some are already in effect, and others start in January 2022. Learn what states are impacted and how this affects the screening industry.

Where will you find policy changes?

In September of 2021, California began redacting date of birth PII from their public access terminals in the courthouses. It is essential to know that this information is still on the hard copy court file. As for the online court records accessible to the public, those records have date of birth PII removed. 

Note: This rule is not new to California; it is now being complied with by the courts within the state.

In addition to California, Michigan will begin redacting the consumer’s date of birth from court records beginning January 2022. While the entire state is scheduled to redact the date of birth on records by January 2022, some Michigan counties have already started implementing this change.

How does this impact the screening industry?

With states redacting PII, this will cause inevitable delays and the potential for additional paperwork. The Fair Credit Report Act (FCRA) requires consumer reporting agencies to have more identifiers than just a name; this will add more time to reports when researching possible records in those states.

Suppose the court allows additional research to be conducted. In that case, this is usually completed by a record researcher with boots on the ground, meaning a physical person is going into the courthouse to request the records physically, causing a ripple effect of extended delays. Some cases in the court may require a signed release from the consumer.

Note: One Source will always communicate what is necessary from our clients to complete a search.

If you are interested in learning more about this ever-changing landscape, here are a few links to discussions within the industry.

  • Read about the Michigan redaction from the Professional Background Screening Association (PBSA) here.
  • Read about the California redaction from the Professional Background Screening Association (PBSA) here.
  • Listen to industry-recognized professional and host of the Background Check Radio, Kevin Bachman’s podcast here.

We are unsure if other states or municipalities will follow suit. Stay connected to One Source to stay up to date on the screening industry dynamic.

5 Reasons Why You Should Get a Personal Background Check

Aren’t we all looking for a leg up when on the job hunt? Simply knowing a little more about yourself might be the boost you need when walking into an interview.

Suppose you aren’t sure you know what is on your criminal record, motor vehicle record, and/or any other legal criteria. Whether you are new to the job market, diving back in after many years, or just curious, it’s a good idea to make sure you know what might show up on your background report.

Five reasons why you should get started with a personal background check:

  1. Avoid Surprises– When you run a personal background check on yourself, you eliminate the element of surprise when asked questions about your background.
  2. Check for Accuracy– Taking a deep dive into the internet won’t always give you accurate answers. Searching on public databases may give you some information about yourself, but the information has not been verified. We recommend working with a reliable background check company (like One Source) to receive accurate real-time, original source answers.
  3. Be Proactive– By running a personal search, you can check if the information on your report is correct and up to date. If you find inaccurate information, you can work to get things cleared up to ensure you are disclosing information to the potential employer accurately when asked.
  4. Get a Competitive Edge – In this day of age, you need any advantage you can get when searching for a job. Go above and beyond. Know what is on your background check to be prepared to answer any question that may come up during an interview.
  5. Peace of Mind– Job hunting is stressful enough. So, before you even start the interview process, choose to put your success first. Receive accurate answers from a reliable screening source.

Getting ahead of potential concerns and being proactive might make more of a positive impression on your potential employer. Overshadowing anything questionable in your past. Run a personal background check with One Source to know you’re receiving compliant and thorough reporting.

If you are interested in running a personal background check, start here!

Want to learn more about One Source? Check out our solutions page to see how we can help empower others with informed decisions. Connect with One Source on our social media LinkedIn, Facebook, & Twitter.

Blueprint to a Compliant Background Check Process

Conducting background checks is a simple way to help mitigate the risk of a bad hire, but they can add some trouble right back on your organization without being done correctly.

Background checks conducted by third-party background screening firms (like One Source) are considered ‘Consumer Reports’ by the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA). What does that mean? Simply put, you must adhere to their rules and regulations and ensure you comply with the plethora of federal, state, and local laws. Not complying with these rules and regulations could result in steep fines, lawsuits, and sometimes even class action settlements.

Using a Professional Background Screening Association (PBSA) accredited background screening firm is an easy step to be sure you are building a team compliantly for your organization.

Here are Four Best Practices for Compliance to ensure you have a successful blueprint for compliant background screening:

  1. Background Check Policy

Before you start screening applicants for employment, it is crucial to have a policy in place. In 2012, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) released its Enforcement Guidance on the use of background screening in the employment hiring process. What should this Policy include?

  • Purpose – Identify the reason you are running the background check; for example pre-employment.
  • Scope – What types of background checks are you running? How often are you screening applicants, upon hire, annually?
    • Not sure where to start? The Society of Human Resource Management (SHRM) provides a great template to help you get started. Read more.
  • Process – How will you be reviewing offenses and determining what is acceptable or not? Onboarding should be consistent within position levels when making determinations. Onboarding managers need to assess the potential risks and liabilities related to the position’s requirements to determine whether you should onboard the applicant through individualized assessments if in the context of employment.
    • The EEOC recommends you consider the nature and gravity of the offense, the time that has passed since the conviction and/or completion of the sentence, and the nature of the job sought to ensure that the exclusion is essential for the position.
  1. Disclosure* and Authorization

Now that you have a screening policy in place, you are ready to begin the background screening process. The next thing you need to do is obtain Disclosure and Authorization from the applicant. The FCRA outlines this for employers, and the FTC has guidance available here. Disclosures* are only required under the permissible purpose of employment.

Be sure to:

  • Inform the applicant or employee that you may use the results of the consumer report for decisions related to their employment. This notice must be in writing and in a stand-alone format.
  • Gather written consent from the applicant or employee. If you want to use this authorization throughout the duration of the individual’s employment, you must state that clearly and conspicuously.
  • Review federal, state, and local laws and include applicable notices. Your screening vendor should provide these to you.

One Source provides all clients a compliant Disclosure and Authorization form, which you can find here

  1. Quality of Data

In the background screening world, there are two main ways that Consumer Reporting Agencies (CRAs) conduct criminal background searches. The first is by conducting real-time, original source record searches directly from the source. The second is utilizing a database or repository.

Database searches, while fast and inexpensive, provide non-compliant data. Record information is often not updated regularly and pulled from archived sources. These inconsistencies leave gaps and holes for outdated information and error galore. While these searches are often the most affordable solution, they can lead to costly lawsuits and ligation.

Be sure that your background checks include live, real-time court records. Original source records mean your vendor is going directly to the courthouse to obtain information that is up to date and as accurate as possible, eliminating errors caused by expungements, dismissed records, and recent convictions that may otherwise be missing.

  1. Adverse Action

Before making a final employment decision based in whole or in part on the background check results, the employer must provide a Pre-Adverse Action Notice, a copy of the background report, and their Summary of Rights Under the FCRA.

This process allows the applicant to review their report, and if necessary, dispute the accuracy of the findings. The timing and actions required during this process are crucial to staying compliant. You can learn more about how employers and applicants should handle adverse action here.

Don’t let the compliance of background screening seem daunting. The blueprint to a compliance screening process is simple; have a rock-solid background check policy, compliant disclosure and authorization forms, quality, real-time data in your reports, and follow the adverse action process.

The best part of it all is that One Source is here to help you through the process. Reach out at any time for a free review of your process from start to finish.

Reference Checks Made Easy

One of the most time-consuming pieces of onboarding can be the process of contacting an applicant’s references. Traditional phone-based reference checking requires finding time to learn more about an applicant. This can also cause delays on when an individual can start a position – leaving room for the possible loss of onboarding good, quality applicants for your organization.

One Source offers a leading reference checking solution to provide you with an online, automated process that delivers fast results. This streamlined process of conducting reference checks makes it easier for both the onboarding professional and the applicant.

How simple is it?

Once the account is set up and you select the questions you wish to ask. Which are either specific to your organization or standard approved questions, your account will be ready.

  1. The applicant and reference information are entered in the solution.
  2. Reference requests are then automatically sent via email or text. This makes it quick and easy for them to respond anytime, anyplace.
  3. The reference completes a short and confidential online questionnaire.
  4. Receive the reference response on a document that will be attached to the report to review.

The process is that simple.

A frequent complaint about reference checking is that applicants select references who will say only positive things about them. This is not the case because the survey allows contacts to respond freely and confidentially. Which encourages the reference to answer more honestly. 83% of all reference providers provide comments on an applicant’s areas of improvement.

Benefits of Reference Checks:

  • Reduce Turnover – Client research results show involuntary first-year turnover can be reduced by over 35%.
  • Increase Efficiency and Cost-Effectiveness – Free up recruiting teams from time-consuming phone-tag, data collection, and reporting tasks – so they can focus on finding great candidates. The solution provides a significant return on investment when you add considerable staff time savings, lower potential turnover costs, and reduce third-party expenses.
  • Enhance Satisfaction of Onboarding Managers – Provide onboarding managers detailed reports showing feedback, candidate summaries, and behavioral interview guides.
  • Convenient, Cloud-based, and Mobile – Makes it easy to get started and for candidates and references to respond anytime, anywhere — even via text messages.

If this service sounds like something you would like to incorporate into your onboarding, watch our recorded webinar, “Reference Checks Made Easy.” We go in-depth on how the reference process works through a demo, along with information on how this service provides you with more data, time, and money compared to traditional references.

Sign up to watch our webinar here! You can also contact the One Source Client Relations Team to learn about our other services to help streamline your onboarding process.

How the One Source Certified Contractors Program Works for You

Certified contractors are sometimes essential to the operation of your business, facility, or team. They come in temporarily to renovate, consult, update and fix pieces of your organization. So, hiring them is often an easy choice. Contract workers can be extremely useful for short-term projects. However, potential risks can come with hiring them, so it’s best to exercise caution.

If you allow contractors access to your facilities and networks, it is in your best interest to background check them like any full-time employee. Whether a contractor is troubleshooting your computers, working with your plumbing system, or painting your office space, you should be able to trust them with your property and information.

At One Source, we offer a simple way to ensure the contractors you hire will be reliable and safe through the One Source Certified Contractor (OSCC) program. This program looks into the backgrounds of contractors to see if they meet a set of standards identified by One Source. Should the contractor fail to meet these standards, they will not receive access to your site.

The OSCC program saves you time, money, and resources because neither you nor the contractor have to commission or interpret full background checks.

When you check the OSCC portal, you can see if certain contractors are certified against a set of standards, which you can review here. These standards were built by background check professionals and are intended to keep you, your organization, and the contractors as safe as possible.

The OSCC program is part of the many ways One Source prioritizes the needs of businesses and ensures their security. The best part of the OSCC is that it is completely free for you to use. In order to run OSCC background checks on contractors, all you need is a contractor’s OSCC credentials. Enter those credentials into the search bar on the OSCC Search page, and One Source will check them to the highest standard.

Make sure everyone entering your organization to temporarily work is vetted with the OSCC program.  You can also utilize One Source’s comprehensive background check options. Learn more about how we can provide background checks for everyone in your organization by reaching out to our team today.

FAQs: The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) is a federal government agency tasked with enforcing civil rights laws against workplace discrimination. They investigate claims against businesses for discriminating based on race, color, national origin, religion, sex, age, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, genetic information. The EEOC also ensures businesses do not retaliate against those who report or oppose a discriminatory practice.

Agencies as large and impactful as the EEOC have a lot of influence over how businesses conduct themselves. It can seem like a big task to identify all the regulations they place on your business and whether you are following them. 

That’s why we have broken down some of the most commonly asked questions about the EEOC. Your business is likely already compliant with the regulations the EEOC applies to you. However, it’s good to be aware of what those regulations are. Knowing what they mean can further strengthen your hiring process.

How does the EEOC apply to my business?

The key factor in how the EEOC applies is how many employees your business has.

  • If you have at least one employee: Employers must provide equal pay for equal work to male and female employees.
  • If you have 15 to 19 employees: You cannot discriminate based on race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy, sexual orientation, or gender identity), national origin, disability, and genetic information (including family medical history). You also must provide equal pay for equal work.
  • If you have 20 or more employees: All of the above regulations apply. Additionally, you cannot discriminate based upon age (40 or older). 

What are my responsibilities to my employees under the EEOC?

Here is a general list of your main EEOC obligations toward your applicants, employees, and former employees. 

  • You must pay male and female employees who perform the same work equally unless you can legally justify a pay difference.
  • You cannot discriminate against or harass applicants in any way.
  • Your employment policies or practices cannot have a negative effect on applicants or employees. All policies or practices must be related to the job and necessary for the operation of your business.
  • You cannot use employment policies or practices that have a negative effect on applicants or employees who are 40 or older unless the policies or practices are based on a reasonable factor other than age.
  • You may be required to provide reasonable accommodations because of an applicant’s or employee’s religious beliefs or disability.
  • During the hiring process, you cannot request medical or genetic information from applicants. You may request medical or genetic information from employees only in limited circumstances. Any health information you do obtain must be kept confidential.
  • No one can punish an applicant, employee, or former employee for reporting or opposing discrimination or participating in a discrimination investigation.
  • You must display a poster at your business that describes federal employment discrimination laws, so employees are aware of their rights.
  • Keep any employment records, such as applications, personnel records, and payroll records on file.

What can’t I ask candidates during hiring?

Your business’s ethics will drive what you do and don’t ask in interviews, but there are some questions you legally cannot ask. Specifically, employers can’t ask questions about an applicant’s disability. They also cannot ask questions that are likely to reveal whether an applicant has a disability. This applies even if the disability is clear. You can ask the applicant to describe or demonstrate how they would perform specific job tasks, but you can’t ask about their disability.

However, you can ask applicants who have disclosed their disability or have a clear disability if they need specific accommodations. You also can ask an applicant to voluntarily report that they have a disability for affirmative action purposes.

What do I do if my business receives an EEOC charge of discrimination?

If you follow the above guidelines and maintain a positive, healthy work environment, it is unlikely you will be charged with discrimination. Still, it is best to always be prepared. Should your business face an EEOC investigation, you should follow these steps.

  • Review the charge notice carefully. It does not mean that you have violated EEOC laws, but rather is informing you that there has been a complaint of discrimination.
  • Closely follow the directions on the EEOC charge notice. The notice will likely ask you to provide a response to the charge or a position statement. This is your chance to defend your organization against the complaint.
  • Respond to requests for additional information from the EEOC, even if you believe that the charge is frivolous. They may help the EEOC dismiss the charge. 
  • Protect your employees from retaliation. Make sure no employees are punished for filing a complaint or contributing to an investigation. Retaliation is illegal, even if the original charge is dismissed.
  • EEOC mediation can help you resolve the charge quickly at no cost.
  • Contact the EEOC investigator assigned to your charge if you have questions.

Compliance is a wide and varied topic, but the experts at One Source can help you navigate ethical hiring with ease. Inquire today to see how we can collaborate to create a simple, efficient, EEOC-compliant hiring process for your organization.