Thursday, August 11, 2011

The end of employment background checks?

On July 26, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission held a meeting to discuss the use of criminal background checks in the hiring process. This is thought to be the first step in the process of changing the current guidelines on background checks. The EEOC left the hearing record open for 15 days after the meeting so that interested parties could file comments on the issue.

The ability to ask an applicant if he or she has been convicted of a felony then run a background check if necessary can be an important HR tool for IAAPA members. IAAPA filed its own comment letter on the issue, as well as signing onto the letter from a coalition of businesses that rely on background checks to provide customers with safe products and services.




It is unclear whether the EEOC will continue with this guideline change after considering the comments it receives or what exactly the new guidelines will say. IAAPA will continue to monitor this issue and alert members as needed.

2 comments:

kpoe said...

I'm sure this is not the end of background checks because if the criminal background check won't be available anymore, companies will find better alternatives. One of them is a background check on social media websites that can be more powerful than a criminal one. So chill because they will check us even if this won't be legal anymore.

Unknown said...

It is more important that employers do criminal background check, Asking their applicant is not really advisable because some of the criminals do lie or supply bogus information on their resume as well as on the interview.