RELIABLE BACKGROUND SCREENING INDUSTRY NEWS AND ARTICLES
Industry news, helpful tips, and valuable insight from the Reliable Background Screening Team.
“Ban the Box” Movement Gains Traction as New Jersey and More Cities Vote to “Ban the Box”
With Governor Chris Christie signing the Opportunity to Compete Act eleven days ago, New Jersey becomes the 13th state to “ban the box” to some degree, i.e., to prohibit asking questions about criminal convictions, usually during initial job interviews and on initial job applications. This New Jersey law becomes effective as of March 1, 2015, and will impact employers with 15 or more employees. Although exceptions vary by state, the New Jersey law has exemptions for employment in law enforcement, corrections, the judiciary, homeland security, emergency management, or other employment positions where criminal background checks are required by law, rule, or regulation. [...]
Illinois Joins “Ban the Box” Movement
This month with Illinois Governor Pat Quinn signing the Job Opportunities for Qualified Applicants Act, Illinois became the latest state to join the “ban the box” movement. This Illinois law will take effect on January 1, 2015, when it will become illegal for Illinois employers (with 15 or more employees) to question, require disclosure, or to consider an applicant’s past criminal history until later in the hiring process. That means for Illinois companies, asking job applicants a question about their criminal history on the initial job application will be forbidden starting next year. Illinois is now the fifth state to ban private [...]
Healthcare Industry – Special Background Screening Requirements. What Hospitals, Medical Practices, and Medical, Hospice, and Nursing Care Facilities Need to Know.
The federal government is increasing their crackdown on healthcare fraud, and it is no surprise as to why. For 2014, it is estimated that part of the federal budget will be comprised by healthcare spending, mainly for Medicare, Medicaid, and the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) exchange subsidies. With the creation of the Center for Program Integrity within CMS (Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services), there is now a consolidated entity for the antifraud activities of Medicare and Medicaid, versus them previously being dispersed across numerous divisions of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). Further with HEAT (Health [...]
Best Practices for Employee Background Checks
DISCLOSURE REQUIREMENTS: Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) – The federal law that governs background checks When employers perform employee background checks, they are subject to the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA). This occurs even if the employer does not obtain a credit report, but simply purchases a criminal background check from any background screening company. The FCRA imposes specific disclosure requirements upon employers, which include: An applicant authorization for the employee background check must be obtained in a separate and distinct disclosure, whose sole purpose is the background screening authorization. It cannot be part of the employer’s general employment application. Additionally, it [...]
