usatoday.com
Worker background checks raise privacy concerns Security push opens the door
By Stephanie Armour
USA TODAY
Employers are carrying out more rigorous background checks since Sept. 11, but critics say the practice is trampling workers' privacy rights by going beyond traditional checks.
In some cases, employers may look at credit reports, civil court records, driving records, workers' compensation claims and criminal records going back 10 or more years. Some are conducting background checks on current employees as well as new hires.
''For the most part, employers are free to conduct fairly intrusive background checks,'' says Barry Steinhardt in New York with the American Civil Liberties Union. ''There's absolutely no regulation.''
The more stringent checks are causing workplace conflict:
* In the wake of criticism and a union lawsuit, Northwest Airlines in April stopped conducting background checks that are more extensive than those mandated by law.
''It was felt it was an excuse to get rid of people,'' says O.V. Delle-Femine, national director of the Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Association.
Says Northwest spokesman Kurt Ebenhoch: ''These are new issues we're dealing with as more stringent requirements come into play.''
* Efforts to upgrade security at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach have run into challenges over background checks. Union members say proposals that call for checks on all dockworkers would imperil workers' privacy and jobs.
''It becomes a harassment of workers rather than anything that brings security,'' says Steve Stallone, International Longshore and Warehouse Union spokesman.
* In California, state officials are asking child care providers to inform parents about workers with criminal pasts.
Critics say parents should only be told whether that past could pose a problem, not whether the offense was for a relatively minor conviction, such as shoplifting. They also say the criminal checks go too far by including offenses that are up to 20 years old.
Employers say they have good reason to be cautious because people with questionable pasts are applying for jobs.
About 5% of applicants had a criminal record in the past seven years, according to a review of 2.6 million background checks by Automatic Data Processing. More than 30% had credit records with black marks such as collection agency activity, which might suggest financial problems. |
