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State Employment Background Check Compliance

State regulations are entirely separate and in addition to the federal regulations enforced under the FCRA and EEOC guidelines. Many different states, counties and jurisdictions can have their own set of laws and regulations governing what is acceptable for application forms, background screening and interview questions. Luckily HireSafe is headquartered in California one of the strictest states for background screening and employment law. Many of the regulations that start at the state level end up being federal regulations as well, so HireSafe follows multiple state regulations to keep your company compliant now and well into the future.

The state level regulations are ever changing with new administrations and year to year. Some of these have no effect on the way background checks are run, but do influence businesses in the area. For instance, the recently signed Fair Chance Initiative or “Ban the Box” ordinance in Los Angeles City bans the use of application questions regarding criminal history. Gail Cecchettini Whaley at hrwatchdog.com mentions the ordinance allows a six-month grace period with fines starting July 1st. We stay on top of big changes at the local, state and national level but it’s the responsibility of the employer to review the requisite changes like those in this LA ordinance PDF.

Local ordinances can mean many different things for your company, mandated postings, OSHA requirements and other human resource developments are ever changing and require effort on behalf of the business to stay ahead of. State and local laws can change the way employment background check’s work as well but when it comes to employment background check compliance, HireSafe keeps you completely compliant.

Background check changes at the state level include any number of regulations that can change the rules regarding what is allowable for employment background checks. These laws are in addition to Federal guidelines and often expand on these regulations.

For instance, to maintain FCRA compliance companies cannot consider cases that did not end in a conviction that are older than 7 years. However, many states also have regulations restricting that rule to any information beyond the 7-year range. That means that while in Arizona you can consider a criminal conviction older than 7 years when deciding to hire, you cannot do the same in California or New York.

More and more states are enacting laws like the ban on any criminal background check considerations older than 7 years. To ensure absolute compliance in a changing world, HireSafe will use the newest rules available. That means any report you get from HireSafe will always be compliant no matter what state you’re in.

HireSafe stays on top of local and state law changes to ensure you’re always in the know, be sure to stay up to date with changes at the local, state and national level by checking out our State compliance page and signing up for our newsletter.

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