Accusource, Inc.

The EEOC announced its Strategic Plan for Fiscal Years 2012-2016. One of the directives was to develop a Strategic Enforcement Plan that establishes priorities and integrates the EEOC’s enforcement across the private, public and federal sectors. The Strategic Enforcement Plan has been approved and includes the following priorities:

* Eliminating Barriers in Recruitment and Hiring. The EEOC will target class-based recruitment and hiring practices that discriminate against racial, ethnic and religious groups, older workers, women, and people with disabilities.

* Protecting Immigrant, Migrant and Other Vulnerable Workers. The EEOC will target disparate pay, job segregation, harassment, trafficking and discriminatory policies affecting vulnerable workers who may be unaware of their rights under the equal employment laws, or reluctant or unable to exercise them.

* Addressing Emerging and Developing Issues. The EEOC will target emerging issues in equal employment law, including issues associated with significant events, demographic changes, developing theories, new legislation, judicial decisions and administrative interpretations.

* Enforcing Equal Pay Laws. The EEOC will target compensation systems and practices that discriminate based on gender.

* Preserving Access to the Legal System. The EEOC will target policies and practices that discourage or prohibit individuals from exercising their rights under employment discrimination statutes, or that impede the EEOC's investigative or enforcement efforts.

* Preventing Harassment Through Systemic Enforcement and Targeted Outreach. The EEOC will pursue systemic investigations and litigation and conduct a targeted outreach campaign to deter harassment in the workplace.

Employers should conduct a complete evaluation of company policies and procedures, including any applicable background screening policies as the EEOC has demonstrated that the use of background screening in hiring decisions falls on its priority list via investigations and the issuance of its Enforcement Guidance regarding the use of criminal and arrest records in employment decisions.

All employers are impacted by the new EEOC Guidance that came out on April 25, 2012. While, some of the guidelines will take more time to implement, others can be implemented sooner. The EEOC Guidance states that employers should not ask about previous criminal history until an applicant is considered for a position and given an employment offer. For this reason, AccuSource recommends that employers remove the criminal history questions from their employment application. This is a good first step toward EEOC compliance.

"How Should Employers Use Criminal History in Employment Now That The EEOC

Has Issued Enforcement Guidance". Seyfarth & Shaw, LLP provide strategy

and insight into EEOC Guidance.

Download attachment for full article.

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) released new guidance on lawful use of arrest and conviction records (criminal background checks) for employment purposes on April 25, 2012. The EEOC’s states its longstanding position has been that reliance on criminal history in making employment decisions may have disproportionate negative impact based on race and national origin in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

The EEOC states that the guidance updates relevant data, consolidates previous EEOC policy statements on this issue into a single document and illustrates how Title VII applies to various scenarios that an employer might encounter when considering the arrest or conviction history of a current or prospective employee. Among other topics, the guidance discusses:

• How an employer’s use of an individual’s criminal history in making employment decisions could violate the prohibition against employment discrimination under Title VII;

• Federal court decisions analyzing Title VII as applied to criminal record exclusions;

• The differences between the treatment of arrest records and conviction records;

• The applicability of disparate treatment and disparate impact analysis under Title VII;

• Compliance with other federal laws and/or regulations that restrict and/or prohibit the employment of individuals with certain criminal records; and

• Best practices for employers.

The guidance and related information are available at:

http://www.eeoc.gov/eeoc/newsroom/release/4-25-12.cfm

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is urging the Obama administration to compel the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to allow public input as the agency ponders issuing new enforcement guidance regarding employers’ use of criminal background and credit checks.

In an April 2 letter to Office of Management and Budget official Cass Sunstein, the chamber said EEOC’s potential guidances on both topics warrant OMB’s review for procedural and substantive reasons.

http://op.bna.com/dlrcases.nsf/id/kmgn-8szk2j/$File/ChamberCrim.pdf