How to stay compliant with the EEOC and FCRA when running employment background checks.

1. 5 STEPS TO RUNNING
COMPLIANT BACKGROUND
CHECKS

2. Welcome!
Moderator
Katie Buzas
Product Marketing
This webinar is being
recorded
Slide deck and link to the
recording will be shared
after the event.
Housekeeping
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3. Agenda
● Why compliance matters
● Introduction to speakers
● Overview of the EEOC
● Individualized Assessment
● Overview of the FCRA
● Adverse Action
● Q&A

4. Why Compliance Matters
● Protecting your brand
● Applicant experience
● Liability
○ Getting fined by EEOC
○ Class action suits by violating
FCRA

5. Subject Matter Expert: Jared Callahan
Jared is Checkr’s Senior Industry
Consultant, a 20 year veteran of the
employment screening industry, and a
licensed private investigator. Over the
course of his career, Jared has worked with
hundreds of companies to bring compliance
and efficiency to their hiring processes. He’s
spoken at dozens of HR conferences and
has been quoted in numerous publications,
such as Inc. magazine.

6. Overview of the EEOC
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity
Commission (EEOC) is responsible for
enforcing federal laws that make it illegal
to discriminate against a job applicant or
an employee because of the person's
race, color, religion, sex (including
pregnancy, gender identity, and sexual
orientation), national origin, age (40 or
older), disability or genetic information.
April 2012 - Enforcement Guidance on
the Consideration of Arrest and
Conviction Records in Employment
Decisions Under Title VII of the Civil
Rights Act of 1964

7. Background Check Results
CLEAR CONSIDER
Report is complete and
there is no adverse
information
Report is complete with
potentially adverse
information, requiring an
‘individualized
assessment’ to make a
decision as to hiring the
individual

8. Report comes back consider, now what?
CONSIDER
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Conduct an Individualized
Assessment (EEOC)
Follow Adverse Action
Steps (FCRA)

9. What is Individualized Assessment?
Individualized Assessment refers to how you review criminal
records on a pre-employment background check. It requires
that you take into account the specific circumstances of the
candidate and the crime(s) to make a fairer and more job
related determination.

10. Individualized Assessment - Nature, Time, Nature
The EEOC specifically mentions three criteria to consider when reviewing
criminal records, known as the Green Factors, or the "nature/time/nature" test
The nature and
gravity of the
offense
The time that
has passed
since the
offense,
conduct, and/or
completion of
sentence
The nature of
the job held or
sought
NATURE TIME NATURE

11. Overview of the FCRA
The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) is U.S. Federal
Government legislation enacted to promote the accuracy,
fairness, and privacy of consumer information contained in
the files of consumer reporting agencies.
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) oversees the FCRA
which impacts consumers, employers, and background
check agencies.

12. Adverse Action
Adverse Action is any action you take based on the
information in a background check report that negatively
affects someone’s employment. Because Adverse Action
adversely affects consumers (by nature), it is a common
area of litigation and compliance risk.
The FCRA requires that you follow certain procedures if you
decline to hire, engage, or promote a candidate on the basis
of information contained in a background report.

13. Adverse Action Steps
PRE-ADVERSE ACTION:
Company sends the candidate a
notice that due to adverse
(unfavorable) information on the
report, the company intends not to
move forward with employment.
The candidate has 7* days to respond to
Pre-Adverse action notice by explaining the
circumstances of their adverse information to
the company, or by disputing the accuracy of
their report with Checkr.
POST-ADVERSE ACTION:
Unless a dispute is filed, after 7*
days, a Post-Adverse Action notice
will be sent to the candidate to
finalize the company’s decision.
A dispute will suspend the report and block
the Post-Adverse Action notice until Checkr
completes a reinvestigation of the disputed
information. After a reinvestigation, the report
is updated and sent to the company and
candidate.
*The FCRA does not specify the number of days but states that a “reasonable amount of time” must be given.
Most employers choose 5-7 business days between the pre and post-adverse action notice.

14. RUN A BACKGROUND CHECK
CLEAR CONSIDER
Make offer of
employment
Conduct Individualized
Assessment
(Nature, Time, Nature)
Decide not to hire
Start Adverse
Action Steps
Decide to hire
Make offer of
employment

15. Next Steps
● Make sure you have a policy in the first place
● Establish your processes and then review them
to make sure you’re compliant with everything
we’ve discussed
● Learn more about how Checkr keeps you
compliant

16. Already a customer?
Check out our Learning Center to learn more.
Not a customer yet?
Visit info.checkr.com/demo to learn more.

17. Q&A

18. Thank You!
Find the Right People, Faster
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