Employment Law Newsletter: What Employers Need to Know About Criminal Background Checks

Newsletters

Wednesday, September 24, 2014

This issue of The Resource summarizes the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s position on the use of criminal background checks by employers, with a review of the enforcement guidance issued by the EEOC in 2012 and a look at recent developments in response to that guidance (e.g., lawsuits filed by the Commission, official disapproval of the guidance expressed by a group of state attorneys general and new legislation passed by a number of states and municipalities limiting the solicitation of criminal background information on job applications). This newsletter also provides recommendations for how employers should best protect themselves from both negligent hire claims and Title VII discrimination charges in connection with the use of criminal background information.