Recruiting

Which State Laws Make FCRA Just That Much Harder?

In yesterday’s Advisor, we covered attorney Lester Rosen’s first three steps of the “FCRA compliance dance.” Today step 4, plus an introduction to the “Best Workforce Training Solution.”

Rosen is CEO of Employment Screening Resources in Novato, California. He offered his four steps at the SHRM Employment Law and Legislative Conference, held recently in Washington, DC.

Step 4. Follow State Rules

[Go here for steps 1, 2, and 3]

Rosen notes that there are many state laws that have FCRA implications, and some are quite detailed. For example, in Massachusetts, the final adverse action letter must be in 10-point type minimum, be issued within 10 days, and use specified language.  (And, of course, he says, California has numerous “only in California rules.”)

Here are the 20 states with their own FCRA-type rules, Rosen says:

  • Arizona
  • California
  • Colorado
  • Georgia
  • Kansas
  • Kentucky
  • Minnesota
  • Montana
  • New Hampshire
  • New Jersey
  • New Mexico
  • New York
  • Louisiana
  • Maine
  • Maryland
  • Massachusetts
  • Oklahoma
  • Rhode Island
  • Texas
  • Washington

Unlimited employee HR training—one low cost—no setup, no software to install. Find out why the Software & Information Industry Association just voted the BLR Employee Training Center the “Best Workforce Training Solution.” Go here for more information or to sign up.


Various states have special rules concerning:

  • Disclosure form for consumer
  • Rules for Investigative Consumer Reports
  • Nature and Scope letter
  • Disputed Accuracy procedures
  • Timing and notice of reports
  • Notification periods
  • 7-year limit on criminal records

Some states limit employers from using arrests, such as: California, Hawaii, Illinois, Massachusetts, Michigan, Nevada, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Utah Virginia, Washington, and Wisconsin.

Some states limit misdemeanors, such as: California, Hawaii, and Massachusetts.

Some states limit first offense records, records based upon a certain age (other than a seven year limit) or diversion/nonadjudication programs, such as: Georgia, Massachusetts, Hawaii, Illinois, and California.

Some states limit expunged or sealed records, such as: California, Colorado, Hawaii, Illinois, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Rhode Island, Texas, Virginia, Louisiana, Maryland, New Jersey, South Dakota, Utah, and Virginia.

Many states have rules reflecting EEOC guidelines—that arrest or conviction must have rational relationship to job given nature and gravity of the offense, nature of the job and age of offense. 

What About Social Network Searches?

As for social network checks, Rosen says:

  1. Make it one of the last steps
  2. Make sure that someone does the checks according to a process
  3. Keep it behind a “Chinese Wall”; that is, don’t let the hiring manager be the one to do the search
  4. Make sure you have consent

Recruiting, interviewing and background checking—there’s a lot that can go wrong. How to get your supervisors and managers all doing it right?
Only one way—training.

Even with the best of intentions, your supervisors and managers will say something or do something that gets the company into hot water—unless they are trained. Unfortunately, up until now, training has been a real challenge—there’s such a load of extraneous planning, preparing, and tracking involved. But we’ve got good news—BLR’s editors have developed a unique new program that’s done all that work for you.

It’s called the Employee Training Center. This turnkey service requires no setup, no course development time, no software installation, and no new hardware. Your employees can self-register, and training can be taken anytime (24/7), anywhere there is a PC and an Internet connection. Courses take only about 30 minutes to complete.


No time to prepare or deliver training? With the BLR® Employee Training Center, your employees can start taking essential training courses the same day you sign up. Workers (and supervisors) train at their convenience, 24/7. We track, and you save with this turnkey solution. Yes, it really can be this simple. Learn more.


The Employee Training Center automatically documents training. As trainees sign on, their identifications are automatically registered. When the program is completed, the trainee’s score is entered. So, when you want to see who has been trained on any subject, or look at the across-the-board activity of any one employee, it’s all there, instantly available to you, your boss, an inspector—even a plaintiff’s attorney.

Course certificates can be automatically generated from within the training center and are automatically retained for recordkeeping purposes.

Unlimited Training That Won’t Bust the Budget

Best of all, in these budget-crunching times, the BLR Employee Training Center costs only a fraction of what you would pay for a learning management system (LMS). You always know exactly what training will cost, no matter how many programs you use, or how many times you use them. There’s just one low annual fee—for unlimited training—calculated by the size of your workforce. Budget once and you’re done!

These are all motivational, actionable courses—for both employees and supervisors—in such key areas as sexual harassment, FMLA, diversity, communication, USERRA, recruiting, and many more. The courses are kept up to date to reflect federal and state regulatory changes, and what’s more, BLR adds new programs continually.

The BLR Employee Training Center also includes a selection of safety courses—you decide whether you want just the HR courses, the safety courses, or both HR and safety.

If it sounds as if we’re excited about this new service, well, we are—and so is the Software & Information Industry Association, which just voted the BLR Employee Training Center the “Best Workforce Training Solution.” Find out what all the buzz is about—sign up for a no-obligation trial to Employee Training Center.

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