Employers have the
right to conduct pre-employment background investigations to validate the
credentials of applicants.
All Federal Laws
regarding discrimination in hiring emanate from Title 7 of the Civil Rights Act
of 1964. Generally, the Act prohibits discrimination in hiring based on an
applicant's age, sex, religion, race or national origin. Most states have
followed suit and passed their own legislation based on this Act. No where in
the Act of 1964 is the asking of an applicant's age prohibited. Only
discrimination based on an applicant's age is prohibited.
According to the
Congressional Record, the Report of the Privacy Protection Study Commission,
Appendix 3, states:
"The
Commissions' review of application forms indicates that virtually all asks name,
address and social security number and inquires about employment and educational
history. Many no longer inquire as to sex and age, and virtually none ask an
applicant's race. Questions about age, sex and race are not prohibited, but the
use of these three items in making a hiring decision is."
The Fair Credit
Reporting Act (FCRA) generally applies to all "consumer reports"-not
just credit reports that are used to establish an individual's eligibility for
employment purposes, including hiring, retention, and promotion. The Fair Credit
Reporting Act (FCRA - Public Law 91-508) places specific requirements on the
acquisition and use of credit reports when used in the applicant screening
process. By law, when Investigation Bureau, Inc. Furnishes you with a consumer
report, we are a consumer reporting agency. Likewise, you become a consumer
report user, and your job applicant, about whom the report has been generated
about, is the consumer. Specifically, an applicant should:
Provide a signed release authorizing the
acquisition of consumer credit data be notified and supplied with the name and
address of the consumer reporting agency providing the consumer report and be
advised when a consumer report user denies a benefit to a consumer either in
whole or in part as a result of information contained in a consumer report.
The
reporting agency will review the contents of the consumer report with the
consumer and direct the consumer to the appropriate agencies to address any
concerns about the data reported. Additionally, all reports received must be
interpreted uniformly, consistently, and legally in accordance with FCRA,
Various states
have specific laws governing the acquisition and use of other information such
as workers' compensation records and driving histories used to screen
applicants. Our procedures are designed to maintain compliance with these
statutes.
We stay abreast of
Federal and State laws dealing with applicant screening issues and strive to
ensure that the information collected and utilized by our clients is in strict
compliance with applicable law.
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