Electronic signatures or e-signatures are an increasingly essential tool in today’s technology-dependent workplace, especially for employers that are hiring remote workers. While state and federal law generally recognizes e-signatures to be as valid as traditional written or “wet” signatures, there are certain disclosures and processes that are required that may be challenging for employers.
Conducting criminal background checks on job candidates is a common practice for employers but one that raises a host of compliance concerns amid a series of federal, state, and local laws and regulations governing how and when background checks may be conducted.
To say that COVID-19 has presented numerous challenges to employers would certainly be an understatement. One of the changes and challenges that has entered the workforce is the proliferation of work-from-home arrangements. With remote workers, employers have had to alter the ways they recruit, pay, manage, and even discharge employees.
On December 10, 2020, the New York City Council amended New York City’s Fair Chance Act (FCA), also known as the “ban the box” law. The recently enacted amendments will take effect on July 29, 2021.
South Carolina is not known as a hotbed of legislative action protecting employee rights, let alone creating new ones. However, several bills are pending in the state legislature that, if passed, would impact South Carolina employers by instituting changes to employment applications, the minimum wage, and credit checks, as well as expanding protections against discrimination.
On September 12, 2018, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) issued an interim final rule updating its A Summary of Your Rights Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act form, (“Summary of Rights”) which is required to be given by employers to applicants and employees at various points in the background check process.
On October 14, 2017, the governor of California signed a statewide ban-the-box law that goes into effect on January 1, 2018.
On August 15, 2017, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals decided Robins v. Spokeo, Inc. (No 11-56843), a case addressing the standing necessary to maintain an action in federal court that had been remanded to the court by the Supreme Court of the United States.
The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals has become the second federal court of appeals to weigh in on an important legal issue for employers in defending against expensive, increasingly common Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) class action lawsuits.
On January 20, 2017, the Ninth Circuit became the first court of appeals to weigh in on several important legal issues for expensive, increasingly common background check class actions—specifically (a) the extraneous content and language in an employer’s background check disclosure forms and online screens that violate the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), and (b) the standing requirements to file background check claims. In Syed v. M-I, LLC, the Ninth Circuit held that (1) inclusion of a liability release in an employment background check disclosure is a willful violation of the FCRA, subjecting an employer to expensive statutory and punitive damages, and (2) this kind of violation results in a concrete harm that satisfies Article III standing, as recently clarified by the Supreme Court of the United States in Spokeo, Inc. v. Robins.
California recently amended its existing law governing inquiries into and the use of juvenile criminal information. Effective January 1, 2017 employers will be restricted from asking about, seeking, or using a California applicant/employee’s juvenile criminal history in the employment context.
On May 3, 2016, Vermont Governor Peter Shumlin signed into law a “ban the box” statute, which will take effect on July 1, 2017. The law will prohibit covered employers from inquiring about information pertaining to an individual’s criminal history record on an initial employment application. The law does, however, allow an employer to inquire about an applicant’s criminal history record (i) during a job interview or (ii) once the applicant has been deemed otherwise qualified for the position.
The Philadelphia Commission on Human Relations has released the poster employers are required to display under the new amendments to Philadelphia’s “ban the box” law, the Fair Criminal Records Screening Standards Act. The poster must be displayed as of Monday March 14, 2016, the date the new amendments take effect.
On September 8, 2015, BMW Manufacturing Co., LLC and the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) entered into a consent decree ending the EEOC’s disparate impact lawsuit over BMW’s use of criminal background checks in employment. The consent decree requires BMW to pay $1.6 million and provide job opportunities to claimant and other applicants who were turned away under BMW’s prior background check policy.
On February 14, 2014, San Francisco Mayor Edwin M. Lee signed San Francisco’s Fair Chance Ordinance, which “bans the box” on employment applications and restricts private employers’ ability to use criminal history information. Ordinance number 131192 will become effective on August 13, 2014. The ordinance also affects certain affordable housing providers.
San Francisco has “banned-the-box” on employment applications and has added other restrictions on private employers’ ability to obtain and use criminal history information. The City and County of San Francisco Board of Supervisors passed Ordinance number 131192 on February 11, 2014, and the mayor signed it on February 14, 2014……
Colorado recently passed a new law regulating an employer’s use of credit background checks for applicants and employees. The new law goes into effect on July 1, 2013. Remember that Colorado state law is applicable to (a) an employment position in Colorado and/or (b) an applicant or employee who resides in Colorado. Under…..
Recently, the city of Newark, New Jersey passed an ordinance that will impact most employers in Newark. The new ordinance, which will go into effect next month, applies to employers with five or more employees that do business, employ, or take applications for employment within the city of Newark. The…..
The city of Newark, New Jersey recently passed an ordinance effective November 18, 2012, that will impact most employers in Newark. The new ordinance applies to employers with five or more employees that do business, employ, or take applications for employment within the city of Newark. The ordinance contains several requirements related to the application process, including requirements related to criminal background checks.
