As more states legalize marijuana use, employers, providers and legislators grapple with the interplay between legal use, impairment and safety risks at work. The drug testing programs that employers have historically used as an effective deterrence and detection tool are no longer useful when addressing marijuana. In the era of legal marijuana, a new workplace…

Did you know that the vast majority of research conducted during the background investigation process is outsourced overseas to verification mills that present the threat of identity theft. As result, your candidate’s Personally Identifiable Information (PII) is shipped thousands of miles away and beyond the protection of United State privacy laws. Do you know where…

Violations of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) during the background check process can be easily avoided with just a few simple steps. The most common issues that landed employer and hot water includes:  Failing to obtain the applicant’s written authorization prior to conducting the background check. The authorization must be a standalone document and…

New Jersey passed “The New Jersey Cannabis Regulatory, Enforcement Assistance, and Marketplace Modernization Act” (CREAMMA) into law to legalize and regulate marijuana use and possession for adults 21 years and older in February 2021. So how does that effect New Jersey employers? They are now prohibited from taking an adverse action against an individual due to recreational marijuana use.  Employers can…

New York City Council has amended the Fair Chance Act (FCA) that prohibits inquiring into the criminal records of job applicants until after a conditional job offer. Effective in July of 2021, an employer can only revoke an offer based on one of three factors: The results of a criminal background check after the FCA process has been followed,…

In January 2021, the Kroger grocery store chain recently announced their partnership with the city of Memphis to offer job opportunities to ex-offenders who graduated from the city’s second chance programs. TABB INC. supports initiatives that offer opportunities that will break the cycle of recidivism and poverty. Our subsidiary is actively working with second chance…

The Illinois legislature amended the Illinois Human Rights Act (IHRA). Using conviction records in employment-related decisions is considered to be a civil rights violation unless there is a “substantial relationship” between the criminal offense and the position or involve an “unreasonable risk”. This amendment mirrors the EEOC guidelines that have been in place for decades. Employers in…

Montgomery County Maryland expanded the scope of the “Ban the Box” law enacted in 2014 with amendments passed late in 2020 entitled the Human Rights and Civil Liberties Fair Criminal Record Screening Standards. The Montgomery County legislation: Alters definitions regarding fair criminal record screening standards; Prohibits certain inquiries regarding criminal records; Prohibits consideration of certain arrests and…

North Carolina passed it’s Second Chance Act at the end of 2020 in an effort to prevent certain records of offenses to be developed during a background investigation for employment purposes. The law expands the list of individuals who will qualify for an expungement of certain criminal offenses. Described as a “clean slate” bill, the…

Hawaii first passed their “Ban the Box” legislation in 1998 to protect ex-offenders. As an example for employers to be on guard for revised versions, recent legislation redefined the “look back” period to reduce the potential employment discrimination against individuals with older cases and less severe offenses. The “legislature finds that the ten-year ‘look back’ period…

Special care must be taken if employment will be denied when a candidate states that they do not have a record and one is developed. The problem is that the vast majority of the records we find are minor and do not rise to the level of the “criminal record”. Shoplifting of low value items,…

TABB INC. encourages initiatives that support individuals returning to the workforce. Numerous studies have shown that “Ban the Box” and Second Chance initiatives accomplish the goal of increasing the hiring of individuals who have committed past offenses, reduces recidivism and provides the opportunity for individuals to return as productive members of society. Criminal record research…

Thirty-seven states and more than 150 counties and cities across the country have implementing Ban the Box legislation to reduce employment barriers for ex-offenders and have them judged on their knowledge, skills, and abilities. The Ban is intended to reduce barriers for ex-offenders, however in most cases the box really isn’t banned. It is moved…

The legalization of marijuana use is growing rapidly on the state and even local level but where does that leave an employer in a jurisdiction where it is. How will an employer evaluate a past conviction for possession for something that is now legal? What is your drug screening policy if a positive hit is…

The accuracy of criminal records developed by a background investigation company and used by employers for hiring decisions will be a source of litigation alleging violations of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) that regulates background screening. Under FCRA Section 607(b), vendors must “follow reasonable procedures to assure maximum possible accuracy of the information concerning the individual about whom the report…

Recent enforcement by the EEOC that resulted in litigation against employers who paid male workers higher wages than female employees working in the same or similar position highlights the need for employers to be aware of salary in the hiring process. Employers are banned from asking questions during the recruiting process relating to salary history…

Are you in a rush to hire? The latest employment trends brought on by COVID in the economy could result in critical mistakes for employers. The need to fill positions can result in a change in HR policy that bypass the background investigation or makes it a secondary consideration. Employees are often given a start…

The rate of urine drug testing positivity in the U.S. workforce climbed 4.5 percent in 2019 to a 16 year high (no pun intended) according to an analysis by Quest Diagnostics. Marijuana positivity in the U.S. workforce increased nearly 11 percent from 2018 to 2019 and 29 percent since 2015 and a whopping 28% percent higher than…

The California Assembly introduced a bill that would prohibit employers from taking an adverse action due a positive hit for cannabis during a pre-employment or employment related drug screen. Employers who fail to abide by this legislation would face stiff civil action. It is expected that the bill will pass both houses and will be signed…

Do you want your criminal record research to be conducted by an AI web scraping bot or by the State Police the jurisdictions where your candidate lived? Not all criminal record searches conducted by vendors are equal. Too many vendors conduct what is euphemistically called a National Criminal Database search which is neither national nor…