On March 14, 2024, the Massachusetts House of Representatives passed legislation that would prohibit employers from obtaining or using a true credit report for employment purposes. The bill is expected to pass the Senate and...more
On March 14, 2024, the Massachusetts House of Representatives passed legislation that would add a new provision to the Massachusetts Consumer Protection law and would bar the use of true credit reports for employment...more
While every employer engages in some due diligence when considering a new hire, if your company routinely, or even occasionally, obtains a “consumer report” as a way to vet candidates, it behooves you to understand the rules...more
How to Hire a Super Hero - An employer subject to the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) and state “mini-FCRA” laws, which are generally more restrictive than the FCRA, can obtain investigative consumer reports, i.e.,...more
On January 20, 2021, Mayor Jim Kenney signed legislation amending the Philadelphia Fair Practices Ordinance, which prohibits covered employers from procuring, considering, or otherwise using a job applicant’s or employee’s...more
The federal Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) provides protections for persons subject to “consumer reports” provided by third parties, including criminal background and credit checks mandated by employers. The employee or...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: When employee theft occurs, employers must be cautious in investigating, avoiding self-help, and in deciding if and how to terminate the offending employee. Companies work hard to hire trustworthy...more
A new Philadelphia ordinance amending the City’s Fair Practices Act goes into effect on July 7, 2016. The amendment severely limits an employer’s ability to procure and use credit information on most applicants and employees...more
Two important New York City laws impacting the hiring process have recently taken effect, requiring immediate action by most City employers. The Fair Chance Act, New York City’s “ban the box” law (“Ban-the-Box Law”),...more
If you read one thing... - Two new employment statutes place additional burden on New York City firms during prospective employee screening and provide fodder for the plaintiffs’ bar - Credit history and...more
The New York City Commission on Human Rights (the “Commission”) has just issued guidance in respect of the Stop Credit Discrimination in Employment Act (the “SCDEA”), which goes into effect September 3, 2015 and modified the...more
Background checks can provide California employers with vital information concerning their employees. In order to protect individual privacy rights, however, the California legislature has created two separate laws governing...more
The federal Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) has recently spawned an unprecedented number of class action complaints against employers for allegedly failing to comply with FCRA’s hyper-technical disclosure and consent...more
Finding that LinkedIn’s “Reference Search” function was not subject to the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), a Northern California federal district court dismissed a putative class action filed on behalf of job applicants who...more
The new year is a time for reflection. With that reflection often comes a resolve for change, from small modifications of some old habits to wholesale new beginnings and everything in between. From a business perspective,...more
In 2014, background checks were a hot topic in state and local legislatures. Before this year, only 8 jurisdictions in the country had passed laws preventing private employers from asking job candidates about their criminal...more
Many employers rely on background checks to screen job applicants and employees when making important personnel decisions, including hiring, retention, and promotion. In March, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission...more
Delaware’s Governor recently signed a “ban the box” law to prohibit public employers from inquiring into or considering the credit or criminal history of a job candidate during the initial application process (up to and...more
We have written a few times about the EEOC’s closer inspection of background checks and the use of criminal records in employment decisions because of their potential adverse impact on classes of applicants. The EEOC has also...more