Employers, more than ever before, need to protect themselves against accidents and crimes committed by their employees. With negligent hiring, lawsuits, training costs, workplace violence and theft on the rise, pre-employment screening as well as taking the correct pre-employment screening steps are no longer an option, but rather a necessity for businesses.

Could the background check policy in place at your business be construed as a discriminatory hiring practice? The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) is letting employers know what to watch out for when considering applicants for employment after the past few years have seen an uptick in discrimination suits over hiring decisions based on background checks.

The EEOC has taken note of two background screening processes in particular that could have the potential to create serious issues for employers both with the EEOC and the court.

The first is implementing blanket policies that bar employment for anyone with a criminal history or a dismal credit score. Statistically speaking, Hispanic and African American males have higher rates for both that may prevent them from holding a position they may otherwise be very qualified for. A blanket policy thus closes the doors to qualified minorities but leaving others wide open to others.

That’s a hiring pattern no one wants as a headache. The EEOC suggests reviewing and altering hiring practices that may result in a disproportionate number of minority applicants being turned away.

Second, problems can arise when an employer fails to adequately show the connection between disqualifying factors on a background check and the position someone is applying for. It makes sense that someone with a sex crime on their record shouldn’t be the best candidate for a teaching position at a high school, but it might get dicey if you’re refusing employment to particular individuals for background issues completely unrelated to the position they are applying for.

Again, the EEOC suggests that companies draw specific correlations between issues that arise on background screenings and how they affect the resultant hiring decisions for applicants.

The EEOC suggestions should in no way be interpreted as a political correctness witch hunt or as preferential hiring to specific segments of the population. Rather, these are helpful and general guidelines that should be seen as a way of ensuring fair and equal employment opportunities for everyone. Additionally, the EEOC’s suggestions can help companies retool dated hiring practices that might be costing them a lot in terms of bringing on talented individuals brimming with ideas who just need to be given a chance to prove themselves.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, January 12th, 2010 at 5:59 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.