EEOC Criminal Record Guidance Examined in Webinar

Written By Thomas Ahearn

In April 2012, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) approved updated Guidance on the use of criminal records during the hiring process. To help employers comply with the EEOC, Attorney Lester Rosen, CEO of Employment Screening Resources® (ESR), will present an hour long webinar with Avant Resources titled ‘Proper Use of Criminal Records When Hiring: Best Practices for Complying with the EEOC’s Enforcement Guidelines’ on Tuesday, June 17, 2014 at 2:00 PM ET. To learn more, visit http://www.avantresources.com/store/proper-use-of-criminal-records-when-hiring2014-05-30-19-16-20-detail.

“This EEOC Guidance has a profound impact on how employers in America hire,” says Rosen, author of ‘The Safe Hiring Manual’ and a frequent presenter nationwide on due diligence background check issues with ‘ESR Speaks.’

In this 60-minute webinar, which is approved for 1.0 HR Certification Institute (HRCI) credit, Rosen will present go beyond simply repeating the EEOC Guidance language and give real world examples and suggestions on what employers should do to remain in compliance while performing criminal background checks. By the end of the presentation, attendees will get the tools to implement immediately (at no cost) and have a road map for action items they can put in place right away to demonstrate good faith legal compliance. Topics covered in the webinar will include:

• Longstanding court decisions and existing EEOC Guidance documents.
• Employment discrimination based on race and national origin, criminal records, and employer practices.
• The differences between arrest and conviction records.
• Disparate treatment and disparate impact analysis under Title VII.
• Employer defenses the EEOC believes meet the “job related and consistent with business necessity” standard.
• Compliance with other federal laws and/or regulations that conflict with Title VI.
• State and local laws or regulations preempted by Title VII.
• EEOC Guidance best practices for employers.
• Option for handling questions about post criminal records.
• Criticisms of the new EEOC Guidance.
• The Good, the Maybe and the Challenging stemming from the new EEOC Guidance.

The EEOC is the agency that enforces federal laws prohibiting employment discrimination. The complete text of the ‘Enforcement Guidance on the Consideration of Arrest and Conviction Records in Employment Decisions Under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964’ is available on the EEOC website at http://www.eeoc.gov/laws/guidance/arrest_conviction.cfm.

In 1997, Rosen founded Employment Screening Resources® (ESR), a nationwide background screening company located in California that is accredited by the National Association of Professional Background Screeners® (NAPBS). For more information about ESR – ‘The Background Check Authority®’ – visit https://www.esrcheck.com/, call 888.999.4474, or email [email protected].

ESR Helps Employers Comply with EEOC Criminal Record Guidance

Attorney Lester Rosen, Founder and CEO of Employment Screening Resources® (ESR), has written a complimentary whitepaper titled ‘Practical Steps Employers Can Take to Comply with New EEOC Criminal Record Guidance’ to help employers better understand how to use criminal records when hiring. The whitepaper is available at https://www.esrcheck.com/Stay-Updated/Download/.