Month: January 2019

IMPORTANT NOTICE 1/23/19: Service Impact due to Government Shutdown

As of 1/23/19. information listed below is current:

As a result of the current United States government shutdown, several government services that employers rely on during employment screening may have limited operation or may not be available at all. This will – temporarily – impact A-Check’s ability to complete some screening components.

Unfortunately, we don’t know how long the shutdown will continue, but please be assured we’ll update this notice each Monday throughout the shutdown to keep you informed of ongoing impact. For now, we’d like to share information regarding the following services:

E-Verify:
 Currently unavailable. When the government shutdown is resolved, A-Check will provide further guidance regarding delayed cases, including the “three day rule.”

 As your E-Verify Employer Agent for web services, we are prepared to queue up cases for all eligible employees with a completed Electronic Form I-9 in our system (who have not been submitted to E-Verify) and then auto process them when E-Verify is back up.

For those clients that only utilize our E-Verify service without our Electronic Form I-9, unfortunately, they will need to submit their E-Verify queries once the E-Verify service has been restored after the government shutdown ends.

CBSV (Consent Based Social Verification):
This service is currently running uninterrupted. However, we will provide updates should there be any change.

 Federal Criminal Searches (PACER – Public Access to Court Electronic Services):

This service is funded through January 18, 2019. Should the government shutdown last long enough to affect Federal Criminal searches, we will provide an update at that time.

IRS Documentation Requests:

Copies of Wage and Income Earnings Statements (in lieu of W2 copies) are unavailable.

 DOT 49 Part 40 form:

Requests for verifications are not being completed if required from an official government operated entity. A-Check can obtain forms if requested from a non-government run employer.

PRIA and FAA records:

Requests are not being completed if the request is made specifically from the FAA. A-Check can obtain a partial response if requested from a non-government run agency or airline.

Please contact us at clientsupport@acheckglobal.com if you have any questions.

A-Check System Update Schedule

We’re committed to ensuring our systems and services are secure, stable, and regularly maintained to effectively protect your data when doing business with us.

We will be performing scheduled maintenance throughout 2021 and we welcome you to refer to this page for information on upcoming system updates. While we do not anticipate being off-line the entire time of the maintenance window, some or all A-Check Global systems, network and services may become unavailable for a few minutes to the entire duration of the maintenance window. We continue to minimize the impact to processing as much as possible during these maintenance windows.

If you have any questions or concerns, please contact us at 877-345-2021.

DatesComplete Y/N
January 16: Intermittent Downtime
February 27: Intermittent Downtime
March 27: Intermittent Downtime
April 24: Intermittent Downtime
May 22: Intermittent Downtime
June 26: Intermittent Downtime
July 24: Intermittent Downtime
August 28: Intermittent Downtime
September 25: Intermittent Downtime
October 23: Intermittent Downtime
November 27: Intermittent Downtime
December 18: Intermittent Downtime

“In the Know!” Part Two: Law and Disclosure and Authorization, oh my.

As your trusted partner, we want to make sure you have access to professional guidance when making employment decisions. To that end, this is our second of a three part series in employment screening compliance. Last month we discussed End Users and Permissible Purpose; this month we’ll quickly cover Disclosures and Authorizations.

Disclosure: End User Must Disclose to Applicant Prior to Requesting a Report

PLEASE NOTE: Because an ever-increasing number of law firms now specialize in class action litigation regarding employer required FCRA Disclosure and Authorization, employers AND consumer reporting agencies should be equally as focused on technical compliance with applicable federal and state laws. Employers should not take short cuts by combining disclosures in the screening process even though “green thinking” and common sense dictate the shrinkage of paper and reduction of steps in the process. If utilizing technology to process Disclosure and Authorization, it is also highly recommended to ensure the electronic signature process utilized is in full compliance with the federal Electronic Signature in Global and National Commerce (ESIGN).

Authorization: Federal Law, State Requirements, and Collection of PII

Employers are required to obtain authorization from the applicant prior to requesting a consumer report for the permissible purpose of employment with only one exception – investigation of wrongdoing.

PLEASE NOTE: Since many organizations utilize the Authorization for a dual purpose in that it not only authorizes the consumer report but it also authorizes the release of information to the consumer reporting agency, class action law firms have taken advantage of this literal interpretation of the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act to successfully sue hundreds of employers for technical violations of the FCRA. If the Authorization form contains language such as “I hereby authorize my past employers and schools to release information about me” or include state required notices such as those in Minnesota, New York City, Oklahoma, or Washington, it will violate the FCRA if combined with the Disclosure.

In short, PLEASE present your Disclosure and Authorization forms as separate documents.

One last recommendation about the Authorization form: ensure that it states “I authorize the background check” and not “I agree to be background checked.”

Next month, RESPONSIBLE BACKGROUND SCREENING Part Three will cover Evaluations, Decisions and the use of a Compliance Checklist.