Hire Image LLC

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...

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...

When New Mexico’s Gallup Independent Newspaper hired Guy Priel as an education reporter, they were unaware that he had been previously convicted of two felonies–once for assaulting a child and once for possessing child pornography.  After being hired, Priel was sent into a school for a story.  Fortunately, he was observed during his visit and no harm was done to any of the children. When the newspaper found out about Priel’s past, they pointed to the recently enacted Ban the Box law, prohibiting employers from asking about criminal history on a job application.  In response, State Senator Bill O’Neill, who co-sponsored the bill, stated that the law does not change the employer’s responsibility to investigate criminal history. This unfortunate turn of events represents the unintended consequences that may result from some reintegration efforts.  While Ban the Box prohibits employers from asking about criminal history at the outset of the application...