Arnall Golden Gregory LLP is pleased to provide you with the Compliance News Flash. This weekly update is your source for timely background screening and immigration-related news that is important to your organization.

1. Registration requirement for consumer reporting agencies (CRAs) operating in Maryland. While the registration requirement for Maryland CRAs already exists, Maryland House Bill 848 signed by Governor Hogan on May 8, 2018 adds new requirements to the annual registration requirement. Namely that CRAs must file a surety bond (not exceeding $1 million) or an irrevocable letter of credit with the Commissioner of Financial Regulation with their registration. The new law becomes effective October 1, 2018, with the changes to the registration requirement becoming effective for registrations or renewals on or after June 1, 2019.
2. Not to be Captain Obvious, but for those of you tracking it, the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) goes into effect next week, on May 25, 2018. I recently spoke on this topic at the TazWorks User Group conference in Salt Lake City (great conference) and here are some tweets related to GDPR. CRAs, make sure you are looking at Articles 3, 6, 10, 13, 27 and 28 of the GDPR to determine their applicability to your operations. 
3. Worksite enforcement investigations by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) related to employers’ requirement to complete the employment eligibility verification form (“Form I-9”) for all new employees as well as hire and maintain a legal workforce have doubled over the last year. According to ICE, “From Oct. 1, 2017, through May 4, HSI [Homeland Security Investigations] opened 3,510 worksite investigations; initiated 2,282 I-9 audits; and made 594 criminal and 610 administrative worksite-related arrests, respectively.” Anecdotally, in my practice I’ve seen an increase in the number of Notices of Inspections (the document that triggers an ICE investigation) increase.
4. Washington State is the latest state to enact a Fair Chance Hiring law with a ban the box provision (meaning employers cannot ask about criminal history on the job application). The Fair Chance Act prohibits employers in Washington State from asking about criminal history on any application for employment until after the employer initially determines that the applicant is “otherwise qualified for the position.” The Governor signed HB 1298 into law, effective June 7, 2018. The law also addresses job advertisements and company policies and procedures.
5. Keep an eye on immigration legislation in the U.S. House of Representatives, including legislation to make E-Verify mandatory for all employers. House Majority Leader McCarthy has promised a vote on the House floor on immigration legislation. Perhaps that will happen before the August recess. Even if it passes in the House of Representatives, its path in the Senate is unclear.