Assignment 2

ERH-102

Maj. Garriott

Harrison Robinson

4/5/17

Background Checks Job Applications

The point of the Background Check on prospective employees is so the employer can make a good decision about whether they should hire the said prospective employee. It is the right of the employer to decide whether not they want to hire the prospective employee. This means that the employer should be allowed access to the prospective employee’s information to an extent that pertains to the job the prospective employee is applying for.  This includes people’s criminal records whether that be a misdemeanor or a felony. The purpose of these background checks is to give employer the needed information to decide on whether the employer should hire the prospective employee into their place of business. It is not the peoples personal right to have a job. Nowhere in the constitution does it say the “People have a right to have a job from employers.”. This is what changing the Fair Credit Reporting Act so it easier for people with prior criminal convictions is not a good idea, because it violates the employers right to a sufficient workforce.

The Fair Credit Reporting Act is the primary law governing background checks in the United States (A Matter of Fact). The FCRA purpose is to promote the accuracy, fairness, and privacy of information in the files of consumer reporting agencies (Fair Credit Reporting Act [PDF]). The Fair Credit Reporting Act does this with help of the FTC and the EEOC the two departments responsible for making sure that the Fair Credit Reporting Act is followed.

Challenges of the Fair Credit Reporting Act have gone to the Supreme Court before with the case of NASA vs. Nelson. The Supreme Court ruled in favor of the employers saying that “Reasonable investigations of applicants and employees aid the Government in ensuring the security of its facilities and in employing a competent, reliable workforce.”(NASA vs. Nelson). This shows that it is unconstitutional to violate the employers right to a background check in the job application process. For it is necessary that the employer have a reliable workforce. The Supreme Court also states that “the Government has good reason to ask employees about their recent illegal-drug use. Like any employer, the Government is entitled to have its projects staffed by reliable, law-abiding persons who will ‘efficiently and effectively’ discharge their duties. Questions about illegal drug use are a useful way of figuring out which persons have these characteristics.” (NASA vs. Nelson). This statement by the Supreme Court implies how important it is for employers to have information about a prospective employee’s background. So, that they can better understand their character as a person and how that will affect their job in the workplace. People will try and make the argument about how this court case is about a government job problem not one in the private sector. This case is relevant to both since the government is an employer just like businesses in the private sector.

People applying for jobs also have a chose to get their records sealed or expunged. This is something that can happen for people with either misdemeanors and felonies . Although both have similar processes misdemeanors are sealed or expunged a lot easier the felonies (Help for Felons). This only includes class levels D and C felonies since class level B is life in prison and class level A is life in prison no parole or the Death Sentence. It differs from state-to-state; however, you first need to check to see if you are eligible to have your record expunged or sealed (Expunge a Misdemeanor From Your Record). Then you must go through the court system fill out the correct paper work and make a court appearance (Expunge a Misdemeanor From Your Record).  Doing this will get most misdemeanors and felonies cleared from your record or it will have them sealed away in your record (Expunge a Misdemeanor From Your Record).

If the Fair Credit Reporting Act is changed so that prospective employees don’t have too state, there criminal records till the end of the application process it will have some serious effects on employers. The employer has a right to a sound and reliable workforce by doing this you are putting them at risk. For example, say a person convicted of theft about 20 years ago gets a job working at a bank, because they are qualified and can convince the employer that they are best for the job even though they have been convicted of theft in the past. Then the person in question takes money from the bank to use herself. This is partly the employers fault but the problem would also lay with the change in the law. What is to say that the said employer couldn’t have had more time to make this decision if he had found out earlier in the application process. Another great example of how this would hurt the employer is if a person convicted of rape were to get a teaching job in a high school. Say the person in question were to explain to the employer how he and this girl were dating and he was 19 and she was 17 and they had sex. The parents found out and convicted him of a raping their daughter and she goes along with it, but it was consensual. The employer understands and gives this guy a chance since he is completely over qualified for the job. A few month later the guy get discovered having a sexual affair with some student and is arrested. This looks horrible on the school in question for hiring a rapist pervert. That is the kind of effect the Fair Credit Reporting Act change can have on peoples work environments.

Some people are deserving of second chances, not everyone that has committed a crime did it for bad reasons. Maybe they stole from a store because their family was going hungry and they had no other options. They could have been protecting a loved on when they assaulted that person. Everyone has a story about their past good or bad. There are people out there that have committed crimes for bad reasons as well. It is for these people that the system is in place to stop. This turns into a moral issue in people’s eyes because some people do deserve a second chance others however don’t deserve anything at all.  Therefore, the Fair Credit Reporting Act needs to stay the way it is now with the questions about prior convictions at the beginning of the application process not the very end. This way the morality stays out of it and the decision can be un bias.

To appease people with opposite views on this topic or people who are on the fence with this very gray moral issue. Maybe the law could be changed so that the explanation can be more detailed at the start of the application process giving people with prior criminal convictions more of a chance. This would be a lot more practical compared to changing the law entirely so the criminals have it so much easier people with criminal convictions. Also, it gives the employer more of a chance to look at the employees past before deciding whether to hire the said person. Thereby minimizing the risk level involved in changing the Fair Credit Reporting Act.

Changing the Fair Credit Reporting Act so much is not a good idea because it will affect the employers personal rights. If a person wants to get a job and they have a prior conviction the can get that conviction expunged or sealed so that it will not affect them when applying for a job. Also the effect on the employers work place will be great as well as dangerous. This is why a simpler fix like giving the people with prior convictions more time at the beginning of the application process that why the prospective employee could explain and the employer has time to think it over. This be a much better way to fix the Fair Credit Reporting Act that is far from both parties stand points.

Work Cited

1. Rod Fliegel, William Simmons on January 24, 2011. “Insight.” S. Supreme Court Holds That Constitutional Privacy Rights Do Not Restrict the Government’s Discretion to Background Check Federal Contractors | Littler Mendelson P.C.N.p., 24 Jan. 2011. Web. 05 Apr . 2017.
2. Background CheckLaws & Regulations For Private Employers.”A Matter of Fact. N.p., n.d. Web. <http://www.amof.info/gov-links.htm#FCRA>.
3. “FairCredit Reporting ” Dictionary of Marketing Communications (n.d.): n. pag. FELONY Web. Expungement.” Help For Felons. N.p., n.d. Web. 05 Apr. 2017. http://www.helpforfelons.org/felony-expungement-sealing/
4. “Expunging A MISDEMEANOR CHARGE.” Expunging a MISDEMEANOR CHARGE | Expunge a Misdemeanor From Your Record | Expungement Info. N.p., n.d. Web. 05 Apr . 2017. <http://www.clearupmyrecord.com/expunging-a-misdemeanor-charge.php>.
5. FELONEY ” Help For Felons. N.p., n.d. Web. 05APR. 2017. <http://www.helpforfelons.org felony -expungement-sealing/>.