Fair Chance Hiring Toolkit

occur. More information regarding the EEOC Enforcement Guidance can be found at www.eeoc.gov/laws/guidance/ arrest_conviction.cfm. Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) The Fair Credit Reporting Act requires employers who use third-party service providers (consumer reporting agencies or background checking companies) to conduct criminal background checks or credit checks on applicants or current employees to follow strict procedures of providing notice, disclosure and consent by the applicant/employee prior to taking any adverse action against the applicant/employee. Employers utilizing third-party service providers to conduct criminal or credit background checks should be careful to utilize the forms provided by the Federal Trade Commission and/or the third party service provide to ensure compliance. Employers must obtain the consent of the applicant/ employer prior to running the background check and then if the background check reveals information that disqualifies the applicant/employee from employment, employers must follow the procedure to provide a pre-adverse action notice and an adverse action notice. The employee also has the right to a copy of the results of the background check and instructions on how to contest the information with the third- party service provider. More information regarding the requirements of the FCRA can be found at www.ftc.gov. CASE STUDIES Related to hiring justice-involved individuals Disclaimer – Please seek legal counsel for any questions you have about employment law. The following information is not legal advice but simply a summary of recent applicable cases. Currently, justice-involved individuals are not a protected class, but that does not mean that they are without protection from discriminatory hiring practices. On the contrary, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has sued two large companies in the last decade over this exact issue: https://www.eeoc.gov/newsroom/eeoc-files-suit-against- two-employers-use-criminal-background- checks The EEOC filed suit against BMW for firing multi-year, active contract employees because of new background check standards required of employees. The EEOC also filed suit against Dollar General because their blanket policy against hiring justice-involved individuals disproportionately affected African American applicants.

In 2012, the EEOC also updated their Enforcement Guidance on the Consideration of Arrest and Conviction Records in

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