Nowadays, most companies conduct employment screening as part of their hiring process, including a background check of applicants to verify the information stated in his or her job application. While to many people it may seem that the modern world is forever doing their utmost to violate the privacy rights of every individual …straighten your mask and stand tall because various federal employment screening rules and regulations do in fact exist to protect the welfare of applicants.
That’s right, and these regulations are contained in numerous federal employment laws and must be followed while conducting these background searches.
This article will highlight a couple federal laws regarding employment screening to assist applicants and employers regarding proper and legal background investigations. First is ‘The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990’. The Americans with Disabilities Act, or ADA, is one of the federal employment screening laws administered by the Employment Standards Administration. Under ADA, no employer, employment agency, recruitment agency, or labor organization shall discriminate a qualified applicant with a disability.
When screening the disabled employment applicant questions pertaining to his or her disability should not be asked especially if these questions have nothing to do with his or her job application. However, information like academic records, personal references, credit cards, and social security numbers can be accessed during the background check.
Next is the ‘Employee Polygraph Protection Act’, or EPPA. This act prohibits most employers from using lie-detector tests during the pre-employment screening process, and prohibits employers from requesting or requiring that any applicant undergo a lie-detector test. Only when the hiring agency or company seeks employees in security service firms does the EPPA, for the obvious security reasons, permit pre-employment polygraph tests.
For more information and complete adherence to all the specific legal screening laws of an industry, contact The Screening Source, LLC at https://www.thescreeningsource.com and 860-591-5225.
The ADA and the EPPA are just two of the existing federal employment screening laws that companies and private agencies must comply with, and the rules and regulations stated in these laws should be strictly followed. Let the experienced team at The Screening Source guide you through the specific screening needs of your industry to safeguard your customers, employees and business.
Contact The Screening Source, LLC at https://www.thescreeningsource.com and 860-591-5225 today!
