Insights
Employment Principal Vince Candiello Presents on Effective Employee Background Checks on Jan. 29 PA Chamber Webinar
The webinar, presented by the Pennsylvania Chamber of Business & Industry, took place Thursday, January 29 at 11 AM ET and was titled "Employee Criminal Background Checks - The Law and Reality." Employment & Employee Relations Principal Vincent Candiello helped companies understand the important elements of conducting employee criminal background checks.
Among other topics, Mr. Candiello discussed:
- The law concerning a Pennsylvania employer’s ability to conduct criminal background checks
- What employers may consider as part of this background check: felony or misdemeanors, convictions, arrest information, etc.
- Discrimination laws employers can run afoul of in relying on criminal background checks – e.g. the EEOC is aggressive in pursuing its positions that arrest/conviction information adversely impacts minorities
- Industries that are required by law to always conduct criminal background checks, such as schools
- What the Fair Credit Reporting Act is and how it applies to criminal background checks
- What you must tell applicants concerning background checks
- How companies use the information they find from a criminal background check; how you can protect the information
- The proper steps HR professionals should follow when turning down a candidate because of what is found on their criminal record
- Best practices companies should follow when conducting criminal background checks