What California Employers Need to Know About New Background Check Laws

If your company is based in California or has offices located there, it’s important to know the most recent rules and regulations for employment background checks. California has some of the strictest regulations in the United States in terms of the screening you can use when hiring an employee.

Recently, the Society for Human Resource Management published a guide to help California employers follow these regulations. These are some of the key points for your business to consider:

• Criminal background checks: California recently passed new laws related to the use of criminal background checks in employment history. In California, it’s still legal not to hire employees based on criminal history, however if those employees come from a protected class, they now have the right to file a discrimination suit if they believe a criminal conviction was the sole reason that prevented them from getting hired.
• Changes to Fair Credit Reporting Act: Proposed rules will require employers to make additional notifications to potential employees if they choose not to hire an individual based on a criminal conviction, if they obtained the information from a background or criminal check, or any other means that isn’t the employee disclosing directly. This could also include learning through checking social media profiles or a simple Google search. Employers must give potential hires the opportunity to prove the information was incorrect.
• Exceptions. Certain California businesses are exempted from the new laws. This includes employers of medical or health facilities and other types of positions that require employees to have a clean criminal background or to not have certain kinds of criminal convictions.

Our company focuses on all FCRA Regulations and provides support with employee background checks that comply with State and Federal rules, while allowing your company to get the employee information it needs. Contact us for assistance.