Connecticut Employment Law Blog Insight on Labor & Employment Developments for Connecticut Businesses

Tag Archives: fcra

Senate Passes Bill Banning Use of Credit Reports by Employers With Exceptions

By Daniel Schwartz on Posted in Human Resources (HR) Compliance, Legislative Developments

UPDATED June 9, 2011 – The House approved the measure late last night, June 8th. For additional details, see this updated post. In the closing hours of the General Assembly’s term, the Connecticut Senate has passed a bill yesterday that would ban the use of credit reports by employers in many situations. Senate Bill 361… Continue Reading

The Basics: Background Checks in Connecticut

By Daniel Schwartz on Posted in Human Resources (HR) Compliance, Laws and Regulations

If you’re wondering if the applicant you’re planning on hiring is a closet Justin Bieber fan or a Russian spy, odds are that a background check won’t uncover that information.  What is may, uncover, however is whether that applicant has been arrested for say, vomiting on a police officer’s kid at a baseball game …. Continue Reading

No Criminal Background Checks? Proposed Bill Would Limit Use for Public Employers

By Daniel Schwartz on Posted in Legislative Developments

Connecticut state law has long made it plain that the "policy of the state to encourage all employers to give favorable consideration to providing jobs to qualified individuals, including those who may have criminal conviction records." (Conn. Gen. Stat. 46a-79.)   In a prior post, I’ve discussed how state law does not prohibit private employers from… Continue Reading

Federal Court Denies Summary Judgment to Background Check Company Based on Alleged Violations of FCRA

By Daniel Schwartz on Posted in Human Resources (HR) Compliance

In a case that should send shivers through background check companies, particularly in Connecticut, a federal district court judge recently ruled that a job applicant could proceed to trial with her claims that two background check companies violated in the Fair Credit Reporting Act when they reported that she had been convicted of a crime… Continue Reading

BeenVerified.Com Shakes Up Background Check Market; Allows Job Applicants to Control Information

By Daniel Schwartz on Posted in Human Resources (HR) Compliance

A new New York-based company, BeenVerified.com launched yesterday and hopes to shake up the background check market with an innovative approach.  If the buzz the company is receiving continues, it will be well on its way. (Full disclosure: BeenVerified.com is a client but, other than authorizing me to write about them, has had no input… Continue Reading

Using Social Networking Sites for Employment Screening; Is there a Right Answer?

By Daniel Schwartz on Posted in Human Resources (HR) Compliance

Over the last couple of days, an interesting debate has emerged about whether employers should use social networking sites like Facebook and Myspace to "screen" potential employees. One corner, supported by the Delaware Employment Law Blog, argues that there are some real and tangible benefits to using the sites, as long as they are used… Continue Reading

Background Checks as Big Business, But How Accurate are They?

By Daniel Schwartz on Posted in Human Resources (HR) Compliance

BusinessWeek has an in-depth article this week on business checks and the accuracy of those records.  Its a thought-provoking article that suggests that background checks are a "Wild Wild West" where nothing is regulated.  Moreover, despite the headline that question the accuracy of background checks, the article itself doesn’t contain any statistics or studies to… Continue Reading

Four for….The Basics of the NLRA, FCRA, FMLA and CTFMLA, and Wage & Hour Laws

By Daniel Schwartz on Posted in Human Resources (HR) Compliance, Laws and Regulations

Many times, clients and acquaintances call looking for the "basics" of various materials. Although I’m happy to oblige, some of the "basics" materials are already out there on the Internet. In fact, the government typically has a good summaries of various laws prepared for everyday use. While these documents should not be relied upon entirely, they provide… Continue Reading

Background Checks and the Hiring Process

By Daniel Schwartz on Posted in Human Resources (HR) Compliance

George Lenard, who runs the popular "Employment Blawg", has an interesting post this week about how current job seekers will have to undergo different scrutiny than perhaps the last time that they engaged in a job search.  As George notes, the biggest change is the prevalent use of background checks by employers.  George provides some useful… Continue Reading