I love old black-and-white Western movies. One standard scene involved two trains speeding through the country toward each other. You knew that if something didn’t happen, there’d be a big, nasty wreck.
That’s the scene in business today. Except, instead of two trains we’ve got screening practices and legislative efforts to make sure that everyone gets a fair shot at a job speeding toward each other.
Over the last decade, more and more companies have started using criminal background checks and pre-employment credit screening. There’s nothing wrong with that.
But many of the employers who’ve climbed on the background screening train simply haven’t’ followed the rules. They’re not giving the notice and getting the permission that laws require. They’re using background screening as a quick way to turn a big pile of applicants into a smaller pile, without tying decisions to legitimate business purpose.
Those kinds of slipshod practice result in some people being denied employment unfairly. As more and more of them complain, the legislators are taking note. Workforce Management describes it this way:
“Congress is considering a bill that would prevent employers from using credit reports in their hiring or promotion decisions. In June, Hawaii joined Washington state in limiting the use of credit checks in pre-employment screening; bans or restrictions also are under consideration in Michigan, Ohio, Connecticut, Missouri, New York and Texas. A California bill that restricts credit checks in pre-employment screening cleared the state Legislature in 2008 and 2009, only to be vetoed twice by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.”
You can’t do much about what the legislators do. But you can protect yourself by using screening tools the right way.
Follow the law. Make sure you know what you can and can’t do.
Be consistent. Use good business process to do things the same way every time. Make hiring decisions on clear, written criteria that you apply in every case.
Make sure that you tie your decisions to legitimate business purpose.
You probably won’t be able to stop the train wreck. But, by doing things right, you can keep from getting hurt when it happens.