This week’s news flash – a quick overview of timely background screening and immigration-related news that is important to your organization.

1. This week Rep. Barry Loudermilk (R-GA) introduced the FCRA Liability Harmonization Act (H.R. 2359) to amend the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) to place caps on damages stemming from class action litigation. This legislation will benefit background screening companies as well as employers and landlords who request background screening reports under the FCRA and are subject to growing class action litigation. The legislation is pending in the House Financial Services Committee.
2. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) posted on its Business Blog a piece called Background Checks on Prospective Employees: Keep Required Disclosures Simple that provides examples of language employers should not include in the FCRA-required disclosure and authorization document. This is particularly helpful in light of the litigation employers face when conducting background checks and providing potentially legally deficient forms disclosing the check and capturing the job applicant’s consent. Examples of extraneous language include, releases of liability, accuracy of information in the job application, hiring based on non-discriminatory reasons, and out of scope releases.
3. A prior Compliance News Flash included news regarding amendments to Massachusetts’s CORI regulations which will impact both employers and background screening companies requesting CORI records for employment screening purposes. The Massachusetts Department of Criminal Justice Information Services (DCJIS) posted the final agency regulations on its website. The regulations were finalized on April 27, 2017. DCJIS will be publishing updated CORI Acknowledgment Forms, a Model CORI Policy, cloud storage guidelines and the iCORI Agency Agreement soon, according to their website.
4. New regulations which will restrict employers ability to consider criminal history information when making employment decisions, issued by California’s Department of Fair Employment and Housing, were finalized and will be effective July 1, 2017. Employers’ use of criminal history will mirror the EEOC’s guidance on the use of criminal history information issued in 2012.
5. Are your employment practices setting you up for a discrimination claim? Read more about this in an article written by Montserrat Miller, published in FSR Magazine.