Thursday, September 16, 2010

Background Check & Laws Encompassing It: The Must Know Facts On Employees' Rights

By Steven Sea

A common concern among job seekers is employment background check. If you don't have anything to hide, there's nothing that you should worry about. At least, that's they way things should have been. But unfortunately, some recent news flashes about inaccuracies or misinformation from various background check companies are worrying job seekers. If you're a job seeker you should know the laws that protect your rights regarding background checking. Here's a basic overview-

The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA)
FCRA is supposed to regulate credit or consumer reports which are in general included in typical background searches. The FCRA requires that employers ask their members of staff to sign some kind of consent form which permits a background check on them. Laws do vary among states, though. So it's best to consult local legal counsel to know the rules applicable in the state you're looking for a job in.

The American with Disabilities Act (ADA)
The ADA requires that the following kinds of people will be declared as disabled in accordance to the laws of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (or EEOC):
* People with physical or psychological disabilities that considerably limit 1 or multiple activities in their day to day lives.
* People with records of bodily or intellectual impairment. ADA restricts all companies from using medical and/or disability records in their hiring process. This means, the law won't permit employers to get entrance into their checkup records. They can't even ask anything regarding the job seekers' disability in the interview.

The Federal Bankruptcy Act (FBA)
The FBA holds a number of provisions closely associated to the employment. A good one among them is that it's illegal for all employers to show bias against potential employees who's had cases of bankruptcy or bad debts.

Defamation Laws
In some US states, such laws defend employees against "malicious libel & slander" from their former employers. That means, when another company or employer calls up the former employer for some character references of the employee, it's illegal for the former employer to say maliciously harmful things about that employee.

Just in case it's essential for the former employer to tell the new or potential employer about the misdeeds of the former employee, he or she must make sure that it's done in fair, decent, evidence based as well as constructive manner.

As you can see, it's not that employers can do anything they want while doing a background check on you. You also have some rights and make sure it's implemented where needed.

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