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Employers
Are Warned Against an Increase in
Discrimination Lawsuits
by EEOC based on Background Checks
The EEOC has sent a warning to
employers that they need to be very careful about
the way they use criminal and credit reports when it
comes to hiring. They have defined two primary
practices that cause the most problems for
employers:
Blanket policies against
hiring anyone with a criminal record or poor
credit score, and;
Failing to show the
correlation between background checks and the
job itself.
The EEOC has taken this
stance due to an increase in discrimination
lawsuits based on these issues. The EEOC has
designed a new program called
E-RACE (Eradicating Racism and Colorism from
Employment) The E-RACE Initiative is designed to
improve EEOC's efforts to ensure workplaces are
free of race and color discrimination.
Specifically, the EEOC will identify issues,
criteria and barriers that contribute to race
and color discrimination, explore strategies to
improve the administrative processing and the
litigation of race and color discrimination
claims, and enhance public awareness of race and
color discrimination in employment.
The U.S. Equal Employment
Opportunity Commission enforces Federal laws
prohibiting employment discrimination. These
laws protect employees and job applicants
against employment discrimination when it
involves:
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Unfair treatment because
of race, color, religion, sex (including
pregnancy), national origin, age (40 or older),
disability or genetic information.
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Harassment by managers,
co-workers, or others in the workplace, because
of race, color, religion, sex (including
pregnancy), national origin, age (40 or older),
disability or genetic information.
-
Denial of a reasonable
workplace accommodation that the employee needs
because of religious beliefs or disability.
-
Retaliation because the
employee complained about job discrimination, or
assisted with a job discrimination investigation
or lawsuit.
Not all employers are
covered by the laws the EEOC enforces, and not
all employees are protected. This can vary
depending on the type of employer, the number of
employees it has, and the type of discrimination
alleged.
It is important that employers show that they do
not give preference to any particular race or
color, even if unknowingly. It is recognized
that some information that is uncovered in a
background check provides insight on an
applicant's job suitability in certain fields of
employment. These can include jobs where
employees will come in contact with customers,
handle case, drive vehicles and deal with
minors. It is important to show the correlation
between the background checks and the
suitability for the job.
These are all reasons it is so important for
every employer to have a written employment
policy spelling out the requirments for each
position and to not have a blanket policy to not
hire people with criminal histories or poor
credit.
For more information on the EEOC E-RACE program
Click Here to go to the EEOC Website.
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e-Update
Employment Screening Services, Inc.
e-Update@employscreen.com
1-800-473-7778
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