Pre-Employ Blog

The process of bringing new hires on board for most companies involves screening their financial, legal, and other background aspects relating to their history. Unfortunately, most employers do not consider the need to re-screen their employees after some time when they join their companies, which poses various risks on business operators.

Legislation has passed as part of the 2019/2020 New York State budget that increases the cost of the criminal history record fees conducted by the Office of Court Administration’s (OCA) Criminal History Records Search (CHRS) Unit to $95 each. The legislation fee increase is now in effect.

 Judge Rules that Colorado' Sex Offender Registry Law is Unconstitutional 

On August 31, 2017, the U.S. District Court in Colorado ruled that Colorado's sex offender registry law is cruel and unusual punishment. Per U.S. District Court Judge Richard Matsch's ruling, the Colorado's sex-offender registry violated the Constitutional rights of three sex offenders who sued regarding the way the public has access to the list.

Most people understand that the primary focus of a background screening company is to find criminal records and accurately report them to the entity requesting the information.

What many may not realize is employers across the nation are actively looking for criminal record activity in order to actually hire a felon. 

Do-it-yourself (DIY) background checks can appear to be faster and less expensive, but the quick and-easy approach may not serve even a small company’s best interests and could actually put your company at significant risk.

According to an article in Business News Daily, “The vast majority of these DIY websites specifically say they are not to be used as part of the employment screening process because the websites are not compliant with the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA).” Non-compliance with FCRA guidelines when doing a background check for employment have resulted in multi-million dollar lawsuits against employers.