Employment Background Check

Management consulting giant Accenture faces a class-action lawsuit over its use of background checks on job applicants. The suit, filed in New York, alleges Accenture’s policy of background checks has a disparate impact on minorities.

Get ready for increased legal scrutiny and regulations of your background screening and prehire testing procedures. In recent months, the EEOC, Congress and state legislatures have signaled interest in putting new restrictions on employers.

If you decide not to hire an applicant based on a background check, the applicant has a right to see the information the reporting agency provided. But what about complaints from customers or clients that become the basis for termination? Do those complaints have to be disclosed to the fired employee? Not according to a recent 5th Circuit Court of Appeals decision.

Q. We require all applicants to complete a pre-employment screening form that asks for their date of birth. The firm that conducts our background checks needs that information to perform the screening. Does this practice run afoul of laws that prohibit discrimination on the basis of age?

Test your knowledge of recent trends in employment law, comp & benefits and other HR issues with our monthly mini-quiz ...

Q. I just found out that an employee filed for bankruptcy. I’m concerned, because she works a cash register and has access to money. Can I fire this employee?

Although many of the biggest changes in the new health care law won’t take effect until 2014, others kick in this year. These changes mostly affect insurers and the benefits they must offer. It’ll be up to you to understand (and explain) these changes to employees. Among the health insurance changes to expect in 2010:

It’s no wonder that some provisions of the recently enacted health care reform law flew under the media radar. After all, it's more than 2,000 pages long. But HR pros need to know about new requirements concerning reporting of employer-provided health benefits, breastfeeding at work and background checks for health care workers.

Recent workplace shootings in Orlando, Fla., and Fort Hood serve as powerful reminders that employers must heed signs that an employee could act out and harm co-workers or supervisors. There were 768 violence-related deaths in the workplace in 2008. Despite those disturbing numbers, many employers stick their heads in the sand. They put their assets and employees at risk by gambling that “it couldn’t happen here.”

Q. We suspect one of our employees has filed a fraudulent workers’ compensation claim. We would like to hire a private investigator to gather information on the worker’s activities. What laws would govern that decision?