Background Check
In the course of searching for jobs, employers have a lot of control over the nature of information from the prospective employees. Although companies can gather information and do background checks, legally, before hiring new workers, the rights and the privacy of the employees are covered, and violations could result to litigations. According to the US Equal Employment Opportunities Commission, employers should not gather any discriminatory private information about the prospective workers. Such information includes race, religion age, and national origin. If the company collects the above details in the course of a background check, without the consent of a prospective employee, and uses it discriminately to determine the outcome of employment, the law provides for litigations grounds (Whitaker, 2016). According to the EEOC, pre-employment information that the employer obtains or requests should be limited to essential data to help establish if an applicant is qualified for a particular job or not.
How to Hire the Best Potential Employee without Breaking the Law
In the United States, the two areas of privacy laws include statutory rules, which apply to the private sector, and constitutional and statutory laws, which apply to state, local, and federal government (private sector). Tort privacy laws apply to both the private and public sector. The courts use them to determine whether the private interest of an individual outweigh those of the public such as the government (Reisman, Kaplan, & Gonzalez, 2016). In many cases, however, the courts rule for the general public interest. Therefore, an understanding of the nature of operation of the courts and the application if privacy in the private and public sector is the first step in ensuring that the pre-employment information is not illegal.
Secondly, according to the EEOC, all pre-employment information should result in equal treatment of applicants. For example, if employers gather pre-employment data, they should do it across all races, religion, age, nationality, and sex of all the applicants, without discrimination.
Thirdly, in case the employer decides to use another company to gather the pre-employment data, it should comply with the FCRA (fair credit reporting act), which the Federal Trade Commission enforces. Furthermore, the employer should also familiarize with local municipality and state laws that regulate background reports.
Finally, the EEOC, under the genetic information nondiscrimination act (GINA), forbids gathering of any genetic data such as the medical history of an applicant’s family. In medical checkup, for example, the employer has to provide objective evidence to support its use to determine employment such as the applicant’s medical condition poses a security or safety risk.
How to Find Out if Resume is Credible
Prudent employers use all legal means to verify the information on applicants’ resume. Most researchers indicate that about 53 percent of resumes have false information. The first step in checking the resume information is through the hiring process. It provides an apt opportunity to gather information from applicants through a series of questions that judge their character and ability without discrimination (Whitaker, 2016). For example, areas of a red flag in the hiring process interview include noncommittal attitude, ambiguous responses, and emphasis on wages. Although they are not clear indicators, they provide an opportunity for the employer to verify the information.
Finally, the employer should confirm all the references. Firstly, to avoid litigations, the employer should inform the applicants that they would check their references. Secondly, they should obtain a signed waiver to collect information from the reference sources. Lastly, they should be consistent with the nature of information asked and ought to avoid any “off the record comments” that will implicate any applicants.
- Reisman, N. R., Kaplan, G. F., & Gonzalez, S. M. (2016). The American Legal System. In N. Scuderi & B. A. Toth (Eds.), International Textbook of Aesthetic Surgery (pp. 89–113). Springer Berlin Heidelberg. Retrieved from http://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-662-46599-8_9
- Springer Berlin Heidelberg. Retrieved from http://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-662-46599-8_9
- Whitaker, S. (2016). Ethics and Professional Conduct. In Pass the PMP® Exam (pp. 475–494). Apress. Retrieved from http://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-1-4842-2074-0_12
