Hire Image LLC

Effective December 20, 2022: The federal government and its contractors are prohibited from asking about the criminal history of a job applicant prior to a conditional offer of employment at  Hire Image . President Trump recently signed the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2020 into law.  This law includes The Fair Chance Act (“Act”) that becomes effective two years after the date of enactment, banning the box for the federal government. There are some important exceptions in the Act for federal positions related to law enforcement and national security duties, positions requiring access to classified information, and positions where access to criminal history is required by law. Click here for more information at  Hire Image  website. Ban the Box laws have already spread throughout much of the country and now to the federal government. For more information on Ban the Box and other laws, and whether they affect your state, visit our resourc...

The Massachusetts Attorney General’s (AG) Office recently launched an investigation into whether employers were complying with the state’s Ban the Box law at  Hire Image . The law went into effect in 2010 as part of a legislative effort to reform the state’s Criminal Offender Record Information (CORI) system. The AG’s Office announced at  Hire Image , that it discovered 19 businesses violating the Ban the Box law by asking questions about applicants’ criminal histories on initial job applications, including whether the applicants had been convicted of violating the law, whether they had been convicted of a felony or misdemeanor other than a minor traffic violation, and whether they had been convicted of a felony. Agreements were reached with two of those businesses, Brooks Brothers and DesignWerkes, Inc.  Under the agreements, each business paid $5,000 to the state and came into compliance with the Ban the Box law.  The AG’s Office also sent warning ...

Hire Image  reports that, effective July 28, 2019, Washington employers with 15 or more employees are prohibited from asking applicants or their current or former employers about their prior wages or salaries.  Employers are also prohibited from requiring an applicant’s prior wage or salary history meet certain criteria.  Employers can confirm an applicant’s prior salary if the applicant voluntarily discloses the information or after the employer has made an offer of employment, with compensation. Additionally, if the applicant requests, the new law requires an employer to provide the wage scale or salary range for the position for which the applicant is applying, after an offer has been made at  Hire Image . This requirement includes internal transfers and promotions. If no wage scale or salary exists for the position, the employer must provide the salary expectation prior to posting. For more information about the growing trend of salary history bans,...

Effective September 1, 2019:  Alabama employers are prohibited from refusing to interview, hire, promote, or employ any applicant, or retaliate against any applicant, because that applicant does not provide a wage history.  Hire Image  background screening specialists report that it’s important to note that, unlike other states, Alabama’s new law does not bar employers from inquiring about salary history, but rather, prohibits retaliation against applicants who refuse to provide such information. This restriction is part of an equity pay law that prohibits employers from paying less for the same work on the basis of gender or race.  Differences in pay for the same work are permitted; however, when based on: (1) seniority, (2) a merit system, (3) a system that measures earnings by the quantity or quality of production, or (4) a differential that is “based on any factor other than sex or race.” For more information about the growing trend of salary h...

Compliance and its importance for employers and landlords is discussed in the news extensively, but a recent proposed judgment against a Consumer Reporting Agency (CRA) demonstrates that compliance, or lack thereof, can affect even those who should be well-versed (and practiced) in the various requirements at  Hire Image . The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (Bureau) alleged that the CRA violated the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) by: (1) failing to employ reasonable procedures to ensure the maximum possible accuracy of the information about consumers it included in the consumer reports it prepared; (2) failing to maintain strict procedures to ensure that public record information about consumers that it included in consumer reports it prepared was complete and up to date or notify consumers, at the time that such information was reported, of the fact that public record information was being reported; and (3) reporting criminal history information and other advers...

On December 10, 2019, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) will host a public workshop at  Hire Image . Through the workshop, industry representatives, consumer advocates, and regulators will discuss the accuracy of traditional credit reports and employment and tenant background screening reports.  Interested individuals may submit comments through January 10, 2020 . Potential topics for discussion include: What are the lessons from the CFPB’s supervisory reviews of CRAs and furnishers on accuracy and dispute obligations? What are the lessons from CFPB and FTC enforcement cases on furnisher and CRA accuracy obligations? How do furnishing practices differ based on the types of furnishers and information they furnish to CRAs and how does that impact accuracy? What has been the effect of the removal of most civil judgments and tax liens from credit reports and recent changes in the reporting of medical debt? How do ba...

Effectively immediately:  An  Act to Protect Employee’s Credit Information  prohibits employers from refusing to hire, dismissing, or otherwise discriminating against an employee or applicant because of information contained in his or her credit report. Additionally, employers are prohibited from verifying or obtaining credit history information of an employee or applicant, unless it relates to the hiring of the following positions:  a managerial position, a position for which a credit report is required by law, a position that requires access to financial or personal information of other persons, a position that requires access to trade secrets, or a position that requires a fiduciary responsibility to the employer. Employers in Puerto Rico should review their hiring procedures and make any necessary revisions based on the new law.  If a credit report is allowed, based on one of the positions listed above, the employer should get written consent from the...

Effective September 17, 2019, Maine employers are prohibited from asking about a prospective employee’s compensation history until after the employer has extended a job offer that includes compensation terms. The law also prohibits employers from making such inquiries to the candidate’s current or former employer.  However, employers may confirm a candidate’s compensation history if the candidate voluntarily discloses it.  Also, the law does not apply to an employer who “inquires about compensation history pursuant to any federal or state law that specifically requires the disclosure or verification of compensation history for employment purposes.” Between now and the effective date, employers should review their hiring policies and practices, as well as any employment applications used to ensure they are in compliance with the new law.For more information about the growing trend of salary history bans, please visit our  Hire Image  Resource Library. Origina...

North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper recently signed an executive order that bans public employers from asking salary history questions in the hiring process.  The order goes further in directing public employers to also avoid relying on previously obtained salary history information to determine an applicant’s salary.  The North Carolina salary history ban for public employers is effective immediately.  Will private employers be next? For more information about the growing trend of salary history bans, please visit our  Hire Image  Resource Library. Originally Posted:-  https://www.hireimage.org/north-carolina-public-employers-may-no-longer-ask-about-salary-history/

While employers generally get nervous (and with good reason) regarding FCRA class action lawsuits, there is now a decision, and out of California, no less, in their favor.  In Culberson v. Walt Disney Parks and Resorts, the California Court of Appeals affirmed summary judgment for the employer in a class action lawsuit alleging willful violations of both the standalone and adverse action provisions of the FCRA.  Disney, the employer, had a standalone disclosure form that included a description of the report’s scope, a statement that Disney may share the information with affiliated companies, an explanation of the applicant’s rights, an explanation that a third party would produce the report, and the third party’s contact information.  The court held that the FCRA does not make clear what information may be included and at the time the disclosures were at issue (2011 and 2013), there was no guidance as to what to include or not, as there is today.  As such, ...

Effective January 1, 2020:  New Jersey employers are prohibited from screening job applicants based on their salary history including, but not limited to, prior wages, salaries, or benefits and from requiring that the applicant’s salary history satisfy any minimum or maximum criteria. However, if an applicant “voluntarily, without employer prompting or coercion” provides the employer with salary history information, an employer may consider that information in determining salary, benefits, and other compensation for an applicant, and may verify the applicant’s salary history.  Additionally, applicants may provide salary history information to an employment agency, which can only be shared with potential employers with the express written consent of the applicant. New Jersey’s salary history law does not apply to: applications for internal transfer or promotion; actions taken by an employer pursuant to any federal law or regulation that expressly requires the disclo...

In our technologically advanced world, it is not surprising that employers take advantage of social media to recruit and hire potential employees. Many employers have turned to social media as a way to screen and monitor the behavior of both potential and current employees. From gaining insight into the type of person a candidate is, to determining if they present themselves in a professional manner, employers can gauge if the candidate is a good fit for the company at  Hire Image . But just how practical and useful is this information, and what are the legal implications? One practical application for using social media is for recruiting. A 2011 study done by the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) found that 76% of companies use or plan on using social media sites for recruiting. Many individuals seeking employment use social media platforms to make themselves known to employers, and also to research potential employers. When social media is used in this way, i...

U.S. government shutdown has affected many federal agencies, some of which professional background screeners rely on to conduct searches.  With the recent shutdown, several federal websites have been shuttered, and access to certain information suspended.  Hire image  to provide all information regarding government updates. Why shut down a website when it could still be operable for consumers or anyone else to obtain information?  It’s not like a website needs a federal employee to operate it each day.  For example, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) website is completely shut down.  Since employment background checks are considered “consumer reports,” the FTC is the agency that enforces the Fair Credit Reporting Act that regulates all consumer reports.  As a consumer reporting agency,  Hire Image  must comply with the FCRA.  In my opinion, the site could remain open for quick reference or information. In addition to the FTC...

The Boston School Department deserves praise for putting the safety of its students first and foremost. Recently while conducting system-wide background checks of all of its 9,000 employees at  Hire Image  Companies, the Department identified 14 employees with criminal charges and either fired or placed them on administrative leave. Criminal records ranged from possession of drugs to rape charges. These were not necessarily convictions, but the Department has a policy proposal on the table for school officials to consider non-convictions in making employment decisions. We recently had a client in who was recruiting for a janitorial position at a school. Had the focus been solely on convictions, the person who was “only” arrested 8 times for child molestation – not “convicted” – would have gotten the job to work in a school. Why hadn’t the person been found guilty or convicted, you’re wondering? After ordering the police report and full court records, it turned o...