Can a Background Check Error Cost You a Job? Your Rights under the FCRA?

The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) requires fair practices when it comes to background checks for employment. When a background check leads to inaccurate reports, it can have adverse consequences that directly affect your job, and the law has important checks and balances in place. If a background check costs you your job, don’t wait to consult one of our FCRA attorneys at The Law Offices of Jibrael S. Hindi.

When Background Checks Are in Error

When information shared in a background check is misleading, inaccurate, or wrong altogether, employees can turn to the FCRA. The kinds of reporting errors that are most common include the following:

• Outdated criminal records, which may include expunged convictions or sealed records that shouldn’t be shared
• Missing case dispositions that make pending or dismissed charges appear to be convictions
• Misidentification with another person’s criminal record
• Outdated employer records that lead to discrepancies in employment start and end dates
• Results that signal an inability to verify, which can mean that the company is no longer in business or that it simply hasn’t responded to the inquiry

This list could go on.

Unconscious Bias and Hiring

There are legitimate concerns that relate to the subtext of background reports. Specific kinds of information can lead to unconscious bias or to outright discrimination based on demographics that speak to socioeconomic class or race.

Social Media and Hiring

Further, even your social media presence could have a negative effect on your ability to land a job. The FCRA does, however, require employers to obtain written consent before launching a social media background check.

In other words, there are many ways for a background check to work against your best interests, even if you happen to be an excellent candidate for the position you’ve applied for. A trusted FCRA lawyer can help.

Your Rights under the FCRA

If you have concerns about the information that prospective employers can see in a background check, there are important actions you can take. To begin, the FCRA requires employers to provide candidates for jobs or promotions with pre-adverse action letters, as applicable. This helps to ensure that potential employees or candidates for promotion have the heads-up they need to dispute inaccuracies in their background checks.

From here, you can request a copy of the report from the employer, and you can also take the matter up directly with the background check company. Providing proof regarding the faulty information can lead to your record being restored.

Consult with Our Experienced FCRA Lawyers Today

Our formidable FCRA attorneys at The Law Offices of Jibrael S. Hindi appreciate the damage that background check errors can cause, and we will spare no effort in our quest to help right the wrong you’ve suffered. We are on your side and here to help, so please don’t put off reaching out by contacting us online or giving our firm a call at 844-542-7235 for more information today.