New background check guidance throws some for a loop

Identification verification is an increasingly important task for everyone from merchant services providers to hiring managers at businesses in all sectors. Likewise, criminal background checks have become an even tougher task in the wake of newer legislation and revamped industry best practices. Human Resource Executive Online recently reported that the U.S. Equal Employment Occupation Commission released new guidance at the end of April this year. These guidelines have confused many HR professionals and hiring managers, as the language within leaves a lot of room for ambiguity. The source explains that the biggest point of frustration has been that statute that requires that employers not request any information on a criminal record unless they can absolutely prove that it could relate to the tasks present in the desired position. This has baffled many, though the source purports that it will likely become more intuitive with practice. Different states have varying background check compliance statutes, but many are in conjunction with the federal statutes established by Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Further guidance on these processes can be found through the online government portal for the Equal Employment Occupation Commission.