Wow, what a mess. As reported late last week, it appears the former superintendent of Des Moines Public Schools who was charged in a federal indictment with falsely claiming to be a U.S. citizen, had multiple red flags that were unreported in his background check. Part of the problem was his background check only went back seven years. But since his salary was more than $75,000, the background check could have gone back further.
The Fair Credit Reporting Act’s (FCRA) seven-year rule restricts the reporting of certain types of information for jobs paying less than a minimum salary threshold of $75,000. Additionally, several states have seven-year restrictions on reporting criminal convictions. Our strict adherence to the FCRA’s seven-year rule and the rules for reporting convictions in every state make GroupOne Background Screening a valuable compliance partner.
The FCRA and Background Checks
The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) is a federal consumer privacy law that applies to employers in all 50 states. This law protects consumers’ privacy regarding the information consumer reporting agencies (CRAs) such as GroupOne can gather and report on credit reports and background checks.
What is the Seven-Year Lookback Period?
The FCRA’s seven-year lookback period restricts CRAs from reporting the following information on an employment background check when the job pays an annual salary under $75,000:
- Arrests that didn’t end in a conviction;
- Chapter 13 bankruptcies (10 years for Chapter 7 bankruptcies);
- Debt collection accounts;
- Civil lawsuits;
- Civil judgments;
- Paid tax liens;
- Any other adverse information.
If a background check provider uncovers any of this type of information while conducting a background check when the job pays less than $75,000 per year, the provider will not report the information to the employer.
Exemptions
The FCRA exempts the following information from its seven-year rule:
- Jobs paying annual salaries of $75,000 or more;
- Employment history;
- Educational attainment;
- Professional license information;
- Other relevant background information.
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) considers education and employment information to be facially neutral, so they do not fall into the category of any other adverse information.
This means employers can ask for employment verification, education verification and professional licensure verification going back to when the applicant first turned 18. However, most employers generally only ask for three to seven years of employment verification for practical purposes.
The FCRA also doesn’t restrict CRAs from reporting criminal convictions regardless of how old they might be or the salary of the job for which the applicant has applied. Once again, there’s an “however.” State laws restrict the reporting of old conviction information.
When Does the Seven Years Start?
Calculating the seven-year lookback period is complex. CRAs must use the correct date to start the seven-year clock to avoid violating the FCRA.
Non-Convictions
Non-conviction information about arrests for criminal cases that are still pending can be reported since the case hasn’t yet been disposed. For those cases, the date of arrest is the date the clock begins to run, and it continues running until the case is disposed.
If the case ultimately results in a conviction, the date of the conviction will be used to calculate the seven years in states that follow the seven-year rule for reporting conviction records.
If an arrest ultimately leads to a dismissal, the arrest information cannot be reported since the case was dismissed if the arrest is older than seven years.
The seven-year period starts to run on the file date for non-conviction arrests.
Convictions
For conviction records, the clock begins to run on the disposition date, release from incarceration, or the start of the individual’s parole in seven-year states. Probation doesn’t count. Instead, if the individual was sentenced to probation, the seven-year clock begins to run from the disposition date rather than the start of probation.
Clear as mud? Please do not hesitate to contact GroupOne should you have questions. For over three decades, we have complied with the FCRA and state laws when we conduct employment background checks and have helped our clients maintain comfortable compliance.