CONSUMER REPORTING

California
Compliance is critical! A recent ruling approved a $175,000 class action settlement regarding alleged violation of the FCRA’s stand-alone disclosure requirement when requesting employment background screening. Let’s work together to minimize your litigation risk.
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A Friendly Reminder about FCRA Requirements
As you’re well aware, when an employer uses a third party (like A-Check) to conduct background checks, there are FCRA compliance requirements that must be followed. For your convenience, here’s a very quick checklist of key requirements:

• Ensure there is a permissible purpose for performing a background check on an applicant/employee, based on their role and responsibilities.
• Provide clear written notice in a stand-alone document to the applicant/employee that a background check will be conducted, and the resulting information will be used to make an employment decision.
• Obtain the applicant/employee’s written consent to perform a background check and/or investigative report.
• If the background check information results in an adverse action decision, a notice of pre-adverse action, along with a copy of the background check results and a copy of the Summary of Your Rights Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, must be presented to the individual.
• Allow the individual at least five business days to dispute the information in the background check
• Upon a final decision, and if adverse action is taken, provide the individual with a final notice of adverse action.

We’re focused on helping you remain compliant, and always welcome your questions.

I-9 AND E-VERIFY

Ongoing Extension: Form I-9 Requirements in response to COVID-19
The in-person requirement for the Form I-9 is temporarily suspended if your company is taking precautions due to COVID-19. The general rule is that an employer must undertake a physical inspection of the document(s) presented by the employee for section 2 purposes.

UPDATE: Because of ongoing COVID-19 precautions, remote I-9 document review has been extended; the expiration date for these accommodations is now MAY 31, 2021.

The government has suspended the in-person and physical inspection of the document(s) presented by the employee when completing the Form I-9. During this time, an employer can view the document(s) presented by the employee via Zoom or Skype, for example.
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BAN THE BOX

California
The California Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH) is increasing efforts to enforce compliance with Fair Chance protections against criminal record discrimination. Employers with operations in California should stay focused on compliance with protections against criminal record discrimination. These guidelines include eliminating conviction history questions on employment applications, as well as prohibiting consideration of conviction history before a conditional offer of employment. While A-Check recommends you consult with your company’s legal counsel, we are here to help answer compliance questions you may have.
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SUBSTANCE ABUSE TESTING

New Jersey
Marijuana is now officially legal in New Jersey. Gov. Phil Murphy signed three bills into law that make adult use of marijuana officially legal, and decriminalize small amounts of marijuana possession in New Jersey. New Jersey becomes the 13th state in the nation to legalize marijuana. The bills will limit the use of previous marijuana convictions and help to create a carefully regulated cannabis marketplace, giving the state an economic boost.
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New York
New York State legalizes recreational adult use of marijuana. On March 31, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo signed into law the New York State Cannabis/Marijuana Regulation & Taxation Act. The Act is not intended to limit authority of employers from enforcing workplace drug policies.
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Nationwide Cannabis Bills in 2021
It bears repeating that there are currently more than a dozen state legislatures considering bills this year for medical and/or adult-use cannabis legalization. This site gives a rundown of continued progress toward state-level marijuana reform for 2021. At A-Check, we’re keeping a close eye on these developments and will continue to report.

Adult-Use Legalization Efforts:
Connecticut, Florida, Maryland, Minnesota, New Mexico, North Dakota, Texas and Virginia
Medical Legalization Efforts:
Alabama, Kansas, Kentucky, Nebraska, and Tennessee
Both Medical and Adult-Use Legalization Efforts:
Indiana, South Carolina
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AS A REMINDER: At A-Check, we’re happy to help implement a drug screening program that meets your evolving needs—or make adjustments to the program you’re already running with us. Just give us a call at 877-345-2021 and ask to speak with someone on your Client Relations team.

COVID-19

COVID-19 Rapid Infection At-Home Collection
Although Coronavirus (COVID-19) has dramatically impacted the business landscape worldwide, it is also encouraging to now see employers focused on safely and gradually welcoming their workforces back to the office. Depending on your company’s return to office policies, requiring employees to test negative for COVID-19 prior to an office return may be a viable complement to office cleaning and sanitation practices. We want to quickly let you know that A-Check is here to help by providing COVID-19 testing and surveillance solutions through A-Check’s medical partner networks. Through A-Check’s partnership with Quest Diagnostics, we offer an at-home collection option to help diagnose whether your employees currently have COVID-19.
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DATA PRIVACY

Minnesota
Minnesota is the latest state to introduce legislation toward a comprehensive consumer data privacy law. On February 22, the “Minnesota Consumer Data Privacy Act” was introduced as HF 1492, and is expected to be signed into law. If passed, the MCDPA will govern the processing of consumer personal information, and will provide a number of consumer privacy rights, including the right to verify, correct, delete, access, and opt out of processing personal data. It will also set company requirements for data protection and consumer privacy notices.
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Virginia
On March 2, 2021, Governor Northam signed into law Virginia’s own Consumer Data Protection Act (CDPA), the second comprehensive state data privacy law in the United States after the California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018 (CCPA). The law will go into effect on January 1, 2023. As anticipated, it governs companies who collect and control consumer personal data, obligating them to have security measures and accountability in place to protect and safeguard the data.
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Florida
With the introduction of HB 969, Florida’s House is moving forward with major consumer data privacy legislation to address consumer rights, the protection of personal information, business online privacy policy, and more. Consumer rights will include access to their personal data, the ability to request deletion of data, and opt out of personal data sharing or selling.
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Illinois
Yes, data protection is important—as illustrated in a recent ruling that Facebook pay a $650 million settlement for violating Illinois consumer privacy. This case involved a claim that the tech giant illegally collected biometric data.
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Nationwide
U.S. consumer data privacy legislation could be on the way. The Information Transparency and Personal Data Control Act was introduced to represent a uniform policy of regulations to help protect personal information from misuse. The bill aims to give consumers control over how businesses are sharing or selling their personal information, along with additional consumer rights regarding personal data.
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Questions? We’re here to help!