The federal government has neglected its responsibility for regulating the companies that provide criminal background checks used by 9 in 10 companies to screen job applicants. The damage done to job-seekers by flawed and unreliable data – a common problem with such services – can be devastating. For the first time, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has charged and settled a case with one background check company, HireRight Solutions Inc. The FTC charged that HireRight failed to follow reasonable procedures to prevent obviously inaccurate information from being provided to employers and, in many cases, even included the records of the wrong person. The company signed a consent decree that requires it to pay $2.6 million, provide consumers with information in their files in a timely manner upon request, promptly notify people who dispute their background reports about the outcomes of the investigation; and update reports to reflect the expungement or dismissal of criminal charges. The company must also submit to monitoring by the FTC. The standards in this settlement should be applied to all such businesses.
