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Are Your Background Check Forms Up To Date?
In spring of 2015, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) made some minor but nevertheless important modifications to a form critical to the employment screening background check process titled “A Summary of Your Rights Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act.”
This form is a summary of the major rights of any consumer who is the subject of a background check under the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), which promotes the accuracy, fairness, and privacy of information in the files of Consumer Reporting Agencies (CRAs).
Employers using background checks to make hiring decisions must comply with the FCRA. The CFPB form “NOTICE TO USERS OF CONSUMER REPORTS: OBLIGATIONS OF USERS UNDER THE FCRA” informs users of background check reports on consumers of their legal obligations.
For example, before taking an adverse action based on a background check, an employer is required by the FCRA to give the applicant a “pre-adverse action” notice that includes a copy of the report and a copy of “A Summary of Your Rights Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act.”
The FCRA also requires employers to send an “adverse action” notice to an applicant after the adverse action is taken. This notice should also include a copy of the report and the form summarizing FCRA rights, which should be supplied by their background check provider.
Employers using background checks should receive the most recent versions of these important forms from their third party background check providers to be in full compliance with the FCRA. Otherwise, employers could risk costly litigation, in both money and time, for non-compliance.
While the changes to the “Summary” form were seemingly minor in this case, any change to the forms provided by the CFPB for performing FCRA compliant background checks for employment purposes is important. Why? The next change may not be so minor.
Employment Screening Resources® (ESR) – “The Background Check Authority ®” – suggests employers and Human Resources professionals using third party background screening providers check to see if these providers are aware of the changes to this form in 2015.
The most recently updated versions of both the English and Spanish versions of the form “A Summary of Your Rights Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act” are available at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) Forms section of the ESR Legal Compliance Resources Web page.
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