Background Checks

Hopefully you saw our article a few weeks ago about California courts removing birthdates and driver’s license numbers from public-facing records – a move that will severely hamper efforts to provide employers with accurate pre-employment background checks. Today, we have new information about that situation, as well as news about problems in Arizona that will also create screening roadblocks.

Employers such as motor carriers are required to complete I-9s for their employees, but NOT for people considered to be independent contractors.

On a federal level, legislation intended to ban the question about criminal records on all job applications was introduced in Congress in 2012 and was tabled, but with no vote taken. While the U.S Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) designated exclusion of a criminal record box as a best practice for equitable hiring. The EEOC recommendations relate to Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Title VII) which prohibits employment discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy), or national origin.