New York City ‘ban the box’ act goes into effect

banning pre-employment credit checks, and it’s continuing to prevent employment discrimination as its citywide ‘ban the box’ law goes into effect. NYC’s Fair Chance Act was passed back in June, amending the city’s Human Rights Law, which previously protected individuals from employment discrimination on a similar basis as the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, adding that…

Read More

Are fingerprint background checks a form of discrimination?

against fingerprint background checks for drivers. The Austin City Council had recommended fingerprint background checks for Uber and Lyft drivers, but two local groups are not on board. Teddy McDaniel of the Austin Urban League and Nelson Linder of the Austin chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People wrote a letter…

Read More

‘Fair Chance Act’ may require federal government to ‘ban the box’

Fair Chance Act,” would prevent all three branches of the federal government from asking job applicants questions about their criminal records on a government job application. The Fair Chance Act would prevent background checks from being conducted until the government is ready to offer a position to the applicant. The bill would “ban the box”…

Read More

New children’s ride-sharing services target busy parents

HopSkipDrive website: “With HopSkipDrive, you have a reliable way to get your kids to any activity. You can schedule rides weeks in advance or with at least eight hours’ notice. Unlike carpool drivers, HopSkipDrivers are vetted for both childcare experience and driving safety.” Similarly to their ride-sharing predecessors, HopSkipDrive and Shuddle both say they conduct…

Read More

Amazon violates Federal Law with employee background checks

Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA). When he applied for a job with Amazon as a “puller” at one of the online retailer’s distribution centers in November 2013, Williams also filled out a form giving SMX the authority “to obtain his consumer report for employment purposes.” That form stated that if anything is found in the…

Read More

Fingerprint background checks: it’s about standards and safety.

Some forms of background checks, like the National Criminal Search, are par for the course for most employers. But fingerprint background checks aren’t necessarily as common as you’d think. Employers and job applicants alike have questions about fingerprinting as part of the background check process. For starters, why do some employers check fingerprints when others…

Read More

ACLU petitions for ‘ban the box’ executive action for federal jobs

has begun petitioning the government to stop including questions about applicants’ criminal records on federal job applications. Recently, President Obama spoke at the NAACP’s annual conference, where he asked Congress to pass federal “ban the box” laws and prevent criminal background checks from being conducted until later in the employment process. According to the ACLU…

Read More

Care.com background checks receive scrutiny after wrongful death lawsuit

wrongful death lawsuits against both the nanny and Care.com. The website allows caregivers to post information for free, and charges families a monthly subscription fee to access information about potential nannies, caregivers and babysitters. There are three levels of subscription: a $37 per month standard subscription; a “preferred” subscription for $59 per month that includes…

Read More

Kansas Senate votes to override Gov. veto of Uber bill

shut down operations in Kansas. “We’re not asking for much,” said Rep. Scott Schwab, one of the bill’s backers. “I mean, in Colorado next to us, they go through their bureau of investigation and Uber didn’t leave there. … We have to make sure, just like everybody else on the road, they have protections.” Meanwhile,…

Read More

Colo. lawmakers introduce volunteer background checking bill — again

In March, we shared that Colorado lawmakers had voted to kill a bill that would protect children involved in youth sports organizations from child predators. The bill sponsors said that employees, coaches and volunteers associated with extracurricular youth sports groups should have to undergo background checks, but the bill was rejected because the Colorado Senate…

Read More