518-373-4111
If your company doesn’t typically do background checks, but you decide, for example, to hire an internal HR person who will have access to sensitive information, you may want to do a background check for this position. But since you’ve never done one for anyone else, it’s possible that it would look discriminatory.
You may conduct background checks for some jobs but not others. Different jobs may require different levels of investigation, but for the same job title, make sure you keep your process uniform to avoid charges of background check discrimination.
As long as you are consistently background screening similarly situated job types, selective background checks are acceptable. For example, if you have decided that you will conduct background checks for this HR role because the employee will have access to financial information, payroll data, and employee social security numbers, you should, going forward, also conduct background checks for other positions with similar access.
We recommend limiting what information obtained in a background check you use in employment decisions. In your situation, it would be logical to consider information obtained from a background check concerning an HR applicant’s conviction for identity theft or falsification of records, but probably not about a DUI or trespassing conviction.
In addition, if you decide to do background checks, there are state and federal laws governing when and how it should be done. If you decide to conduct a background check for this position, or for more information on how GTM helps clients with HR compliance issues like this, contact us at (518) 373-4111.
