Six Million Reasons to Review your Screening Policy Now

REDDING, CA (May 2, 2011)—On the surface, a screening policy seems fairly straightforward. Screen all applicants for criminal convictions or other red flags and do not hire those that would put your organization at risk.

This premise is simple, but the rules surrounding pre-employment screening are not so intuitive. Furthermore, the ramifications of not following these rules may lead to financial catastrophe, as evidenced by the recent preliminary court approval of a nearly $6 million dollar settlement in a class action suit. “Compliance with FCRA requires implementing proper procedures during the hiring process and consistently following the set process”, said Alva Cross, Associate at Fisher & Phillips (www.LaborLawyers.com).

The plaintiffs in this suit brought charges for two violations of the Federal Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA).

1. The employer did not provide appropriate disclosures to job applicants before conducting pre-employment screening and background checks.
2. The employer did not follow a required "adverse action process" upon denying the plaintiffs employment due to red flags in the criminal background reports.

The Federal FCRA documents that lay the groundwork for the class action suit may be found here: http://www.pre-employ.com/FCRASettlement. Under FCRA rules, if a business is willfully non-compliant it may be liable for statutory damages of up to $1,000 per violation, attorney's fees, and worst of all, unlimited punitive damages. Even negligent non-compliance, which does not demand statutory damages, will still leave a business liable for actual damages, attorney's fees and unlimited punitive damages.

In this case, the backgrounds of approximately 143,000 applicants were screened over a period of time. If the preliminary settlement holds in an August ruling, which it is currently likely to do, all of these applicants will share in the $6 million settlement.

As industry experts, Pre-employ.com is now offering a free guide for businesses, "Top 5 Tips to Avoid FCRA Non-Compliance" here: http://www.pre-employ.com/5Tips

Whether or not you are an existing client of Pre-employ.com, we encourage you to consult with us for a free analysis here: http://www.pre-employ.com/quote. Many states have screening laws that can be confusing, and how these regulations relate to federal laws such as the ones employed in the above case is never clear. We can help you figure out your screening process through careful, yearly analysis.

For More Information Contact:
Amanda Zuidema
Director, Public Relations
Pre-employ.com, Inc.
(800) 300-1821 ext. 210
amandaz@pre-employ.com

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