Mostly all discrimination laws today are amendment or revision to the original law Civil Rights Act of 1964. Before we discuss background checks let’s discuss some specifics of the original law and how it relates to background check. Just as its namesake states, in 1964 the United States passed a law that tried to help and even prevent civil injustices to anyone base on their color, race, national origin, religion, or sex; but the primary focus at this time in history was African Americans and minorities. This act gave all Americans the right to vote, use public facilities like restaurants, movies, hotels, restrooms, etc. This law was also the cornerstone upon the effort to desegregate schools. If an agency or business …show more content…
An Article within this law, Title VII, addresses job discrimination and the establishing of the EEOC (Equal Employment Opportunity commission), is what the background checks fall upon. The EEOC primary role is enforcing the federal laws that make it illegal to discriminate against job applicant or current employee because of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age disability or genetic information. (www.eeoc.gov) We have come to know these categories as the “protected class”. In April of 2012 the federal government created an amendment under Title VII of the civil Rights Act of 1964 addressing the issues and concerns of the use of arrest and conviction records in employment decision. The basically states an employer can’t use criminal records to be bias in a hiring process. The records can be use if the job one is applying for is relevant. If a person is applying for a job with the DEA (Drug Enforcement Agency), one criminal background would be a valid screening for applicants; just as well, if one is applying for a bank teller position, where an individual is making money transactions all day, their credit history could be valid in the screening process. Basically the law states the screening process …show more content…
Some states gives a person a waiver if there was a charge but no conviction; the age of the case is a factor in other states, if the case is more than seven years old it is not relevant; some states are practicing Ban the Box, which prohibits a employee from either gathering or mentioning background checks until after first interview. (www.justifacts.com)
Background Checks (Case