Supreme Court Amends Rule; Background Checks Should Continue Without Delay

by Advocacy News - Michigan Chamber of Commerce

After months of back and forth, the Michigan Supreme Court adopted an amendment to its personal identifying information (PII) court rule impacting background checks.

As previously reported, the court rule, which was slated to go into effect on January 1, 2022, would have required Michigan courts to redact all personal identifying information (PII) from public records.  In doing so, the Supreme Court would have effectively eliminated the ability of professional background screening companies to conduct background checks for businesses across Michigan.  Ninety-four percent of employers conduct background checks and, in many instances, are required to do so under state and federal law.

Read more: https://www.michamber.com/news/supreme-court-amends-rule-background-checks-should-continue-without-delay/

California Employers: Your Online Job Advertisements Could Get Your Business in Hot Water

by McDermott Will & Emery - JDSupra

The California Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH) announced a new affirmative effort to detect and correct violations of the Fair Chance Act (FCA)—California’s ban-the-box law—by using online technology to identify words and phrases in job advertisements that violate the FCA. The FCA was first enacted on January 1, 2018, to prohibit employers with five or more employees from asking job candidates about their conviction history before making them a job offer.

Read more: https://www.jdsupra.com/legalnews/california-employers-your-online-job-6031396/

New York Department of Labor Issues Guidance on Cannabis and the Workplace

by Steven D. Hurd, Alex S. Downie, Laura M. Fant - The National Law Review

The New York State Department of Labor (“NYDOL”) has issued FAQ guidance addressing common questions regarding recreational cannabis use by employees in and outside of the workplace in light of the enactment earlier this year of the Marijuana Regulation and Taxation Act (“MRTA”).

The MRTA legalized the use of recreational marijuana for individuals ages 21 and older.  Notably for employers, the law also amended Section 201-d of the New York Labor Law – which prohibits discrimination by an employer against an employee because of certain lawful outside work activities – to include protections for recreational cannabis use. As such, employers are now prohibited from discriminating against employees based on their use of cannabis outside of the workplace, outside of work hours, and where use does not involve the employer’s equipment or property.

Read more: https://www.natlawreview.com/article/new-york-department-labor-issues-guidance-cannabis-and-workplace

House lawmakers want birthdate to stay on court records; courts have other plans

by Beth LeBlanc - The Detroit News

Lansing — Michigan House lawmakers are moving to preserve the listing of birthdates on court records even as state courts are years into the process of removing the information from public records. 

A bill discussed Wednesday in the House Judiciary Committee would preserve the status quo by prohibiting courts from redacting birth dates on public records so that background check companies can maintain ready access to those records for screenings.

Read more: https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/local/michigan/2021/10/13/lawmakers-want-birthdate-stay-court-records-courts-have-other-plans/8434428002/

The Fair Credit Reporting Act and Background Checks—Common Employer Questions & Tips

by Colleen Anderson Hartley - JD Supra

When an employer is considering a job applicant, it likely wants to investigate the person’s work history, education, criminal record, financial history, medical information, among others. This type of background check is known as a consumer report and is regulated by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) through the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA).

Read more: https://www.jdsupra.com/legalnews/the-fair-credit-reporting-act-and-9390280/

DC appeals court ruling on credit reporting violations deepens circuit split

by Jody Godoy - Reuters

(Reuters) - A federal appeals court in Washington, D.C., ruled on Friday that government agencies can be sued under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, deepening a circuit split on the issue but drawing a sharp dissent from one judge.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled 2-1 that Congress waived the federal government's sovereign immunity under the law, which governs how credit agencies handle consumer information.

Read more: https://www.reuters.com/legal/transactional/dc-appeals-court-ruling-credit-reporting-violations-deepens-circuit-split-2021-09-24/

Bill 64 on modernizing Québec privacy law – Why it matters and how to prepare for it

by Chantal Bernier, Sasha Coutu, Alexandra Quigley - JD Supra

Québec’s Bill 64, An Act to modernize legislative provisions as regards the protection of personal information, was adopted unanimously, on September 21, 2021, receiving assent on September 22, 2021. The clock has started running to prepare for its implementation in covered organizations. While most new provisions will come into effect only two years after assent, the organizational transformation they entail is significant and will require time and resources. To comply with Bill 64, organizations must: i) establish data governance processes, including ones to assist individuals in exercising new privacy rights, ii) develop corporate data management policies, iii) adopt technological solutions to de-index or transfer personal information upon request; and iv) issue internal guidelines to support staff and service providers in the implementation of the new privacy regime.

Read more: https://www.jdsupra.com/legalnews/bill-64-on-modernizing-quebec-privacy-3532823/

Audit: Arizona Database Flaws May Put Public Safety at Risk

by Paul Davenport, Associated Press

PHOENIX (AP) — State auditors say public safety may be put at risk by reporting gaps and a backlog in the database that Arizona uses for conducting background checks of people seeking certain jobs or occupational licenses and for helping prosecutors and judges decide whether defendants should get plea bargains or lenient sentences.

Read more: https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/arizona/articles/2021-09-11/audit-arizona-database-flaws-may-put-public-safety-at-risk

Another Privacy Headache for California: Court of Appeal Ruling Will Slow Down Criminal Background Checks Throughout California

By Rod M. Fliegel, Garrick Y. Chan - Littler

Companies that hire employees and engage independent contractors in California should brace for a significant slowdown in background checks that include criminal record searches in California state courts.1 This will result from the court of appeal’s opinion in All of Us or None v. Hamrick, which prohibited the Riverside Superior Court from allowing its electronic criminal case index to be searched using an individual’s known date of birth or driver’s license number. Background check companies rely on searching such indexes for most criminal background checks in California state courts. And, while the lawsuit was brought against the Riverside Superior Court only, the court of appeal’s ruling impacts most California state courts, because the court’s ruling was based on a statewide law: California Rules of Court, rule 2.507 (Rule 2.507).2

Read more: https://www.littler.com/publication-press/publication/another-privacy-headache-california-court-appeal-ruling-will-slow-down

Updates on Biometrics in the Workplace: Scanning the Legal Landscape in New York and Beyond

by Susan Gross Sholinsky, Shawndra G. Jones, Brian G. Cesaratto - Epstein Becker & Green

As businesses find useful new ways to harness the evolving technology that captures and analyzes human biometric data, legal regulation of such technology’s usage is also developing, responding to concerns about personal privacy and control over personally identifying information. With a few states—notably, Illinois, Texas, and Washington—having taken the lead on protecting individual rights and restricting the collection and use of biometric information by requiring notice and consent, New York City has also recently enacted new rules that limit the collection, storage, and dissemination of such personal data.

Read more: https://www.ebglaw.com/insights/updates-on-biometrics-in-the-workplace-scanning-the-legal-landscape-in-new-york-and-beyond/