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Background Checks

$600K fine: A reminder to take I-9 forms seriously

08/25/2015
A California-based production company, Hartmann Studios, has been slapped with the largest fine ever for Form I-9 paperwork violations.

Do we have to hire the partying applicant?

08/19/2015
Q. We are hiring a new salesperson, and were about to offer the position to a seemingly well-qualified applicant. As part of our reference check, a social media search was also conducted. Several photos of the candidate passed out surrounded by empty booze bottles at what looks like a fraternity party and other photos of partying were found. We are considering not hiring this applicant because of the results of the social media search. Would that present any problem for us legally?

Are employers liable for negligence if they hire employees with prior criminal convictions?

07/15/2015
Q. I am considering hiring a few job applicants who have prior criminal convictions on their records. Can I be liable for negligence if one of these individuals breaks the rules again?

Review noncompete agreement before hiring

07/09/2015
Before you hire employees from the competition, make sure they don’t have an existing noncompete agreement. When in doubt, consult an attorney.

Should you copy and retain employees’ I-9 supporting documents?

06/24/2015

HR and hiring managers have so many decisions to make when it comes to I-9 and E-Verify compliance. One of the most frequently asked policy decisions is actually quite mundane on its surface, yet the answer can be tricky.

We found questionable I-9 documents: What now?

05/28/2015
Q: “While conducting an annual self-audit of employee files and I-9 compliance, I have encountered some questionable documents that I believe to be fraudulent. If I contact an ICE agent to verify these documents, will this then trigger a company wide ICE audit?” – Santana, Texas

Is it OK to simply refuse to hire sex offenders?

05/20/2015
Q. After narrowing our search to one candidate, we learned that the applicant may be listed as a registered sex offender. We would just rather not hire this applicant. Can we legally do that?

Before you check Facebook, ask 3 questions

05/12/2015

The practice of searching applicants’ social media accounts for background information is drawing increasing scrutiny. It’s legally risky. When deciding whether to check applicants’ social media content for background-check purposes, consider these questions.

No more credit checks for many New York City job applicants

05/06/2015
Do you routinely conduct credit checks on job applicants? Are you located in New York City? Then here’s a heads-up: The New York City Council has overwhelmingly passed an amendment to the New York City Human Rights Law that would bar most city employers from using credit checks as part of their hiring process.

EEOC urges caution on criminal background checks

05/01/2015
New EEOC guidance makes it clear: Employers better be able to prove they have a good business reason for running criminal background checks on job applicants. That means it’s time for you to review your job applications and hiring policies—and start training hiring managers on what’s certain to be a major EEOC enforcement effort.