July 2023
What’s up with some screening results taking longer than normal?
When Pedro L. Ramos III applied for a job at a company in Connecticut, he was offered the position contingent on a successful background check. But once the company received the screening, they rescinded their offer on the account that his background check provided he had four convictions, including one felony drug charge. Pedro did not have any convictions on his record and claimed that the screening provider did not supply an accurate report.
As Emily Shumway of HR Dive provided in a recent article, the above-referred litigation was proposed as a class action lawsuit. The reason? Because the CRA provided a “greater than 99%” accuracy rate. In most cases, that statistic might sound promising; but as the complaint states, the screening company in question conducts millions and millions of background checks a year. This could lead to hundreds of thousands of inaccurate background screenings by the CRA. As a result, it might be a great idea to ask your screening vendor how many reports they run in a year and what their annual inaccuracy rate is. Read more about the class action lawsuit that brought the CRA’s claim to light here.
USCIS announces new Form I-9; will allow permanent remote review for E-Verify users
As we discussed in the June newsletter, DHS announced that all employers would have 30 days to comply with Form I-9 in-person requirements. Following the announcement that employers would need to figure out a way to recertify any remote workers hired in the last couple of years, many employers were left scrambling. But there is good news: just last week, the USCIS (U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services) released another amendment providing that eligible and accepted employers can utilize remote verification for employees.
Qualified employers will be able to conduct Form I-9 remote documentation verification for any employee hired on or after August 1st, 2023. There are several factors as to whether or not an employer is able to offer what the USCIS has dubbed the “alternative procedure”, and there are required guidelines that and eligible employer must follow. The first requirement to qualify is that your company must be a good-standing participant in E-Verify. We suggest getting in touch with the USCIS or your legal team to see if you are eligible for remote recertification, and you can read more in the published document in the Federal Register here.
Additionally, the USCIS published a revised Form I-9 that will be published on Tuesday, August 1st, 2023. There are several changes to the updated form, but one of the most notable changes is that it has reduced the instructions from 15 pages to only 8 pages. While employers can continue using the current Form I-9 until October 31st, 2023, they will no longer be accepted after November 1st of the same year. Because of this, it is imperative that your team begin utilizing the new edition of the Form I-9, which you can read about further here. To read the latest announcement regarding remote examination of Form I-9 documents, click here. As a reminder, we offer I-9 services including storage directly within our a dashboard in our portal. If you’re interested, reach out to our office to learn more!
E-Verify Made Easy through Our Screening Portal
With almost half the nation mandating some type of E-Verify requirements, Atlantic is more than thrilled to offer a solution that can be easily utilized from within our screening portal. This way, you can launch the E-Verify directly from the candidate’s file, making it that much easier for your team! You’ll be able to see all cases – active, closed, or otherwise – from within a Compliance Dashboard available to you. Coupled with our QuickApp, having the ability to track your applicants from the beginning to the end of your onboarding process has never been simpler.
Whether you’re being required to utilize E-Verify or are doing it for your own purposes, our solution can help streamline your processes! If you have any questions or are interested in listing it on your account, please reach out to our office for the next steps on how to employ our E-Verify services in the portal.
