Non English Speaking Applicants
Non English Speaking Applicant Policy for Employee Background Screening
To maintain compliance as mandated for employment background screening at the national and state level dictates a very narrow interpretation of their respective statutes. Of most recent concern was that of applicants who do not speak or read English.
We at HireSafe intended to support the largest California ethnic populations by producing compliant forms in Spanish. However it has been brought to our attention that because we don’t provide the same translated forms in Hmong, Mandarin, Tagalog, Cantonese, French, Italian, German, Farsi, Swedish, Danish, Vietnamese, Laotian, Cambodian, Korean, Nepalese, Slovakian, Greek, Norwegian, Malaysian, Portuguese, Polish, Hungarian, Japanese, Russian, Serbian, Croatian, Swahili, Moroccan or any of the other multitudes of non-English languages, we are in fact denying that applicant’s the same privilege’s that we are providing for Spanish-only speaking applicants.
We had hoped that by doing a little, we could set an example for the industry, but unfortunately, HireSafe is a small company, and we do not have the resources to translate or accumulate the necessary documents to fulfill such requests.
The unintended consequence of accommodating one culture for special treatment over all others is racially insensitive and potentially discriminatory. To resolve this imbalance of preferential treatment, effective immediately, it shall be the policy of HireSafe that ALL domestic USA employment background check documents will be provided only in English. Including addendum's where state or local laws apply (i.e., San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York, etc.). The federal Fair Credit Reporting Act, which regulates the background screening industry, makes no mention whatsoever that the required compliance documents are to be available in any language other than English. If, at a later time, the federal law changes, HireSafe will make the corresponding adjustments.
The only format available from HireSafe to maintain complete compliance, while not favoring an individual's culture other than that of the USA collectively, will be the exclusive utilization of the QuickApp electronic ordering process.
The QuickApp format requires the use of the applicants' email address, which is available at no cost from Yahoo, Gmail, etc. The use of a computer, also available for free in all public libraries or through HR Department assistance, is necessary to participate. It is to the greater good of keeping our clients compliant, protecting your applicants' rights, and for the long-term sustainability of HireSafe that we implement these policies.