June 20, 2018
Posted in background checks
According to a new report on CNN, thousands of criminals have been cleared to drive for Uber despite their significant criminal history.
The report found Uber and Lyft “pushed back on government efforts to add other layers of scrutiny to the screening process” and “successfully fought off additional backgrounding requirements for drivers such as fingerprint scans or government screening” that some believe would help protect passengers.
“Uber has essentially regulated itself,” said a former Uber employee and in-house lobbyist, who requested anonymity citing concern over possible backlash from a current employer. The former employee added that in most states, lawmakers just inserted Uber’s language.
In statements to CNN, Uber and Lyft said their background checks are robust and fair. Uber acknowledged past mistakes in its screening process, but said, “More than 200,000 people failed our background check process in 2017 alone. While no background check is perfect, this is a process we take seriously and are committed to constantly improving.”
Once again, the difference between public expectations on screening standards and the ride-hailing companies’ standards have raised concerns about Uber and Lyft’s ability to effectively screen drivers and protect customers.
Some suggest that background checks are more crucial for independent contractors, such as ride-sharing drivers, because their status as non-employees gives employers less direct control over their work. By 2020, 40% of the workforce could be contingent — putting pressure on employers to ensure they vet this growing group appropriately.
posted by Staff
May 10, 2018
Posted in background checks
Frito-Lay Inc. has agreed to pay $2.4 million to resolve claims that it violated the Fair Credit Reporting Act by using improper disclosure forms for obtaining consumer reports for pre-employment background checks.
The FCRA requires employers to use certain documents and to follow specified policies and practices when they use background checks to assess the qualifications of prospective and current employees. The plaintiffs in this case alleged Frito-Lay violated the FCRA by including the disclosure in a document that also included “impermissible extraneous information.”
The $2.4 million settlement represents $62.87 per Class Member and a net settlement of at least $40. This compensation is in line with comparable settlements for alleged FCRA violations in the Northern District of California.
FCRA compliance can be complex. To stay within federal FCRA guidelines, employers must adhere to three primary tenets:
- Applicant consent and authorization to a check. Employers must disclose that they will be screening and applicants must give consent to the screening.
- Summary of Rights. Candidates must be given “A Summary of your Rights under the Fair Credit Reporting Act” document.
- Adverse Action Procedures. Adverse action includes pre-adverse action when the employer is considering a negative action (no hire, termination or no promotion) based on the results of the background check. The applicant will then have time to review and dispute the report.
While most employers are aware of the federal FCRA regulations, it’s important to note that many states have also passed their own FCRA laws. Understanding and abiding by both federal and state FCRA regulations has become an important skill for hiring managers.
For more information on FCRA compliance at any level, get in touch with our team of experts.
posted by Staff
April 19, 2018
Posted in background checks
In a recent blog post, Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said the company will be boosting their background check program in two fundamental ways:
- Annual reruns: In the past, Uber conducted background check reruns in jurisdictions where required. Going forward, the company will proactively rerun criminal and motor vehicle checks each year, regardless of whether there is a legal obligation to do so.
- New offense notifications: Uber will go beyond annual reruns and be among the first to invest in technology that rapidly identifies new offenses. Using data sources that cover most new criminal offenses, they will receive notifications when a driver is involved and leverage this information to help continuously enforce their screening standards.
The company previously didn’t have a uniformed policy on rerunning criminal background checks.
“We can do more to ensure drivers continue to meet our standards on an ongoing basis, long after they take their first trip,” Khosrowshahi wrote in the blog post titled “Getting serious about safety”.
In addition to this focus on their background checks process, the post also announced several other safety measures to be introduced, including the addition of a safety center in the app, allowing users to identify trusted contacts, facilitating and improving 911 communications for users, and expanding their Safety Advisory Board.
Insufficient background checks and safety measures have been two of the key criticisms Uber has faced in their nine-year history. Time will tell whether these new measures do anything to reduce that criticism and improve the safety of their users.
posted by Staff
October 31, 2017
Posted in background checks
Nearly 15 percent of new ride-hail drivers in Maryland have been dropped from the apps over the past six months for failing state screening, despite having passed Uber and Lyft’s background checks, says state Public Service Commission (PSC).
The rejections included 460 applicants with disqualifying criminal histories and 900 who were flagged because of issues with their driving records, according to the Washington Post.
In the last six months alone, Maryland rejected 3,503 out of 24,608 applications.
Maryland does not conduct its own screenings of drivers but rather reviews Uber’s and Lyft’s completed applications for compliance. Once Uber and Lyft approve drivetd, they can work until the state says otherwise.
“The fact that we are rejecting a significant number on secondary review demonstrates a solid justification for our supplemental review process, which is above and beyond what most other states do,” PSC spokeswoman Tori Leonard said.
Maryland isn’t the first state to experience this situation.
Back in April, we reported how more than 8,000 Uber and Lyft drivers had been banned from driving for ride-sharing apps after having their background checks re-assessed as part of a new Massachusetts law.
Once again, the difference between the state background-checking standards and the ride-hailing companies’ standards have raised concerns about Uber and Lyft’s ability to effectively screen drivers and protect customers.
Some suggest that background checks are more crucial for independent contractors, such as ride-sharing drivers, because their status as non-employees gives employers less direct control over their work. By 2020, 40% of the workforce could be contingent — putting pressure on employers to ensure they vet this growing group appropriately.
posted by Staff
October 24, 2017
Posted in background checks
More than half of Denver child-welfare caseworkers (57%) could not prove they had passed required background checks during a recent review.
This information was revealed in an audit report, published just this month.
“Those who protect our smallest citizens and our aging loved ones must be held to high standards, and that includes proof of background checks,” City Auditor Timothy O’Brien said.
In 2014, Congress voted to update the federal law for child care, the ‘Child Care and Development Block Grant’. This requires comprehensive background checks for child care providers.
According to that legislation, a comprehensive background check includes:
- State and federal criminal history check using the individual’s name
- State and federal criminal history check using the individual’s fingerprints
- Child abuse registry check (this may also be known as the Child Protection Index)
- Sex offender registry check
According to the Denver auditor’s report, there was confusion about who was responsible for making sure that new hires and promotions meet the requirements. There was also no clear policy about how and when these documents should be saved.
Denver Human Services director Don Mares said he is confident all caseworkers have passed a background check and these processes meet all federal and state requirements.
Officials have plans to improve background check documentation and staff training.
posted by Staff
March 07, 2017
Posted in background checks
All Virginia day care workers will have to undergo fingerprinting for a criminal background check after state lawmakers passed a bill intended to make sure the state doesn’t lose out on federal funding.
Currently, only certain facilities are required to get licenses and fingerprint background checks. Churches and small home-based day cares aren’t currently included.
According to the bill, all workers at registered day cares must now undergo fingerprinting for a national criminal history background check with the Department of Social Services by the end of September.
Virginia had faced losing at least $2.7 million in federal funding if the requirement were not enacted.
“This is a pretty simple, basic requirement … to bring child care protections up to speed,” said Emily Griffey, policy director for the advocacy group Voices for Virginia’s Children. “We hadn’t really touched those license exceptions for 20 years.”
The bill does include a sunset provision, though, which means that the legislation will expire next year unless lawmakers take further action.
posted by Staff
November 20, 2016
Posted in background checks
According to a new CareerBuilder survey, 75% of employers said they have hired the wrong person for a position in the last twelve months. Of those who had a bad hire affect their business, the average cost of the bad hire was $17,000.
That’s a significant sum for most small businesses and emphasizes why it’s so important to run comprehensive pre-employment background checks.
Worryingly, the report suggests that only 72% of employers are currently running such checks. This is down from previous studies, which have reported the number to be as high as 90%.
Of the 72% in this study that reported running background checks, here’s how their background checks break down:
- Criminal background check: 82 percent
- Employment check: 62 percent
- Identity check: 60 percent
- Education check: 50 percent
- Drug test: 44 percent
- Licensing check: 38 percent
- Credit check: 29 percent
The study also indicated that 20% of employers continue to perform background checks on employees post-hire – a best practice we would strongly advise employers to consider.
Study respondants shared that the primary ways a bad hire affected their business included:
- Lower productivity: 36 percent
- Lower quality of work: 33 percent
- Negatively affected employee morale: 31 percent
- Lost time to recruit and train another worker: 30 percent
- Cost to recruit and train another worker: 30 percent
- Employee’s managers or coworkers had to spend excessive time assisting bad hire: 29 percent
The survey was conducted online by Harris Poll on behalf of CareerBuilder from August 11 to September 7, 2016. It included a sample of 2,379 hiring managers and human resources professionals, ages 18 and over (employed full-time, not self-employed, non-government), coming across different industries and company sizes in the private sector in the USA.
posted by Staff
October 13, 2016
Posted in background checks
On September 28, California Gov. Jerry Brown signed a bill into law that will require Uber and Lyft (or any other transportation network company) to perform full background checks on drivers.
Previously, the law only required background checks to cover the past seven years.
Drivers will also face tighter rules on driving under the influence, prohibiting them from having a blood-alcohol level of 0.04 or higher compared to the current level of 0.08.
The new law comes as Uber and Lyft are under fire over claims that they don’t do enough to protect the safety of their passengers, and this is just one of many recent legal battles faced by the ride-sharing companies.
In June this year, Uber paid a $7.5 million fine amidst claims that they used background checks on drivers without applicants’ knowledge or authorization to make hiring decisions. Just a few months earlier they had settled a case in California for $10 million over the quality of their checks. And a few months prior to that, another background check lawsuit had cost them $28.5 million.
A small positive for the ride-sharing companies…the new law avoids the controversial fingerprint issue altogether, something they have been fighting against for quite a while.
posted by Staff
August 04, 2016
Posted in background checks
The 2016 Sterling Talent Solutions Survey, the largest survey ever conducted among the American population on the subject of employment background checks, provided valuable insights into what employees really think about employment background checks.
Employers, take note.
The survey data makes it abundantly clear that the American public believes it is the responsibility of employers to take every measure necessary to protect their workplace and their employees – including background checks.
There were five particularly interesting results in the survey that we’d like to highlight, each of which is a strong reason in itself for why employees see background checks as a critical component of all businesses.
1. 95% of respondents think criminal background checks should be mandatory for employment
A whopping 95% of the 1,077 respondants from the survey think it should be mandatory to determine whether a person has a criminal background before he or she takes on the responsibilities of a job. There’s no ambiguity here – almost everyone, from your employees to your family to your competitors, believe background checks are an integral part of the hiring process.
In addition, mandatory background checks are considered “necessary” for workers who take the lives of others in their hands such as airline pilots (66%), those who prescribe medication (63%), those who represent people in legal matters (56%) and those employed to drive or chauffeur others (44%).
2. 78% believe it is their right to feel safe at their workplace
The belief that citizens have the right to feel safe at the workplace came second only to the belief that they have the right to feel safe at the doctor’s office (83%). 65% believe that background checks provide them with a sense of safety.
3. 52% would be more inclined to support a company that conducts employment background checks
In addition to 52% of respondants being more inclined to support a company that conducts employment background checks, 56% would feel safer interacting with employees at a company that conducts background checks.
4. 84% believe safety is more important than the loss of privacy that results from background checks
The media has written extensively about whether public safety precautions (such as more intensive airport security checks, metal detectors in schools and the like) are reasonable measures or invasions of our privacy. There are strong opinions on both sides of this debate — and no easy answers.
However, when it comes to the workplace, the data is clear: the safety that background checks offer supersedes the loss of privacy that they entail.
5. 16% are willing to give up half their salary in order to feel safe at work
Astoundingly, 172 (16%) respondants were even willing to give up half their salary to ensure workplace safety. Similarly, 28% were willing to give up all of their vacation hours and 37% were willing to give up their smartphone.
Given the survey’s overall findings, it’s quite clear that the vast majority of Americans support thorough employment background checks. And they support employers who make background checks a part of their hiring process.
The survey was conducted between Dec. 28, 2015, and Jan. 11, 2016, among 1,077 Americans, 18 years of age and older, who are statistically representative of the national population. The survey’s margin of error is equal to +/- 3.0%.
posted by Staff
July 13, 2016
Posted in background checks
It often surprises people to hear that different types of background checks use different databases when collecting information about the background check recipient.
Tenant background checks, for example, are often conducted by CRAs and are regulated by the FCRA, while firearm background checks are done either by phone or online through the FBI’s ECheck system. Employment background checks are similar to tenant background checks, but often more detailed.
To make life a little simpler for those considering performing background checks, we’ve laid out the key databases/resources:
National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS)
The FBI’s NICS is used when performing a one-time instant check for gun purchases. It does not play a role in employment, tenant and volunteer recruitment background screening.
The FBI Identification Record
Often referred to as a criminal history record, the FBI Identification Record is a listing of certain information taken from fingerprint submissions retained by the FBI in connection with arrests and, in some instances, federal employment, naturalization, or military service.
Interstate Identification Index System or “III” System
The III System contains automated criminal record information accessible through National Crime Information Center. A federal-state compact was created in 1999 which allows criminal history records from the FBI and State criminal history record repositories to be shared through the III System for noncriminal justice purposes such as governmental licensing and employment background checks.
Despite popular belief, the III System is not a complete national database of all criminal history records in the United States. In fact, many state records, whether from law enforcement agencies or courts, are not included or have not been updated.
State and local courts
In the context of a background check, requests for court records can be broken down in two groups: civil court records and criminal court records.
Civil court records provide information about claims, suits, and judgments filed by or against the subject of the report. Criminal court records provide information about an individual’s criminal history.
The bottom line? There is no single government database containing complete and updated records regarding a person’s criminal history. Collecting this information from the various databases to compile a comprehensive insight requires expertise.
To save time and reduce the possible of error, allow a specialized screening firm to take the lead on background checks for you. If you’re interested in learning more, our team will be happy to help.
posted by Staff
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