Understand the employee background checks according to the New York Law
New York State has regulations about the employee background check that ought to be followed. Every individual in New York must get a copy of his or her criminal history information from the Division of Criminal Justice Services. The criminal history information indicates clearly whether one has any or no criminal records. This process is known as the Personal Record Review, and it is important to employers. These files are only licensed to the organization only if the New York state laws permit the particular city or town to have access to the employee's background check.
Rules governing the employee background check in New York?
An employer is allowed to use background checks for employment purposes only. The background check is regulated by the New York states and should not be violated by any employer.
There are two types of background checks - one; if the employee will earn less than $25,000 annually, then the background check is only limited to criminal convictions that have happened in the last seven years. Two, if the employee will earn over $25,000 annually, then the report should include all the criminal convictions that have ever happened.
An employee background check is not allowed to contain any information about any arrests or charges only if the arrests are still pending at the time of the background check.
The history report does not include any records of non-criminal convictions no matter when they occurred.
The employer should always notify the applicant of his intention to conduct a background check. It is considered illegal by the New York State laws to perform any check without notifying the employee.
Notifying the applicant must be done in writing by the employer telling of his intentions to request a copy of the criminal history from a reporting agency. The candidate is allowed to call or write to the reporting agency and ask if the records were requested; the name of the company or person who requested the records plus their address should be disclosed to the applicant.
The applicant is legally entitled to review their background checks before the employer does because many of them are often inaccurate. Inaccuracy is caused by many people sharing the same name and birth date hence their records may be switched. The applicant has a right to dispute and correct any anomalies on their records.