#BackgroundCheck #EmployeeIssues #NewYork #Misdemeanors #FelonyCharge
Hey, everyone! So, I recently ran an annual background check on one of our employees here in New York, and it came back with two misdemeanors and one felony charge. 🚨 Not exactly what you want to see, right? I’m in a bit of a pickle and could use some advice on how to handle this situation since we don’t have an official policy in place. Here are a few possible solutions I’ve been considering:
– Schedule a meeting with the employee to discuss the findings and give them a chance to explain.
– Consult with HR or legal counsel to determine the appropriate course of action based on company policies and state laws.
– Consider reassigning the employee to a different position if their current role is not impacted by the misdemeanors or felony charge.
What do you think? Any other suggestions or experiences to share? Let’s brainstorm together! 🤔💬 #TeamEffort #ProblemSolving #WorkplaceChallenges
Establish a policy?
I’ve never heard of an annual BGC but I’ve heard of companies requiring notification of charges and / or convictions.
You’re in a pretty employee friendly state so you’ll need to factor that in for this specific instance but you can definitely establish a policy going forward.
So you do an annual check, but don’t have a policy in place if something was to come up?
Are employees aware that you are running annual checks? What’s the sense of running a check if you have no policy?
You have no policy in place and you can’t do much with the info. If employees are unaware or you let someone go without a policy your looking at a lawsuit.
I’m confused we need more info about the background checks. Most companies who run annual checks do so for business risk, disclose the policy and require employees to report certain offenses in their policy. You also have unproved the offenses are job related in order up terminate or discipline. So essentially you can’t do anything. Start a policy and moving forward you can review relationship and make decisions. Consult a labor attorney.
New York is at will. You can do what you want with this. I would suggest putting a policy in place and stating you will rum an annual background check and that convictions will result in termination. If you are concerned about employee safety, give this person a chance to resign.
Are they violent crimes like rape, murder, and domestic violence? If not, who cares?
If you have not policy, then I would say there really isn’t anything to do here.
Hey, good enough for a Presidential candidate, good enough for your company, right?
If the offenses aren’t job related, then toss them out. Since there are no actual policies regarding what to do if something shows up, then insist on policies. Also be sure you are adhering to the strictest state’s laws (probably California). I’m in TX but received a few thousand because of something someone in CA initiated. My company very much just wants blanket policies but also doesn’t want to lose lawsuits. It does seem like they bow down to California a lot, which I’m fine with.
If your company is small, just ignore me.
1. As others have mentioned, if you have no policy in place for this, you’re tossing money away for no good reason.
2. In New York State, I would **strongly** encourage your organization to re-think the practice of annual background checks. NYS has some strong protections in place for pre-employment checks, and I can imagine those same protections extend to any sort of situation where you may terminate or otherwise discipline a worker based on the background check’s results.
3. That you’re asking, “What now?” instead of following the law that demands you give the person an opportunity to explain, and that you’re running these checks irrelevant of job duty are pretty big red flags and I would refer you to #2.
4. If the items on the report are legitimate, and not related to the job, _ignore them_. And again, stop doing these checks. It will not end well for your organization.
I’ve never heard of annual checks….. why are you wasting money on annual checks if you don’t even have a plan for when the checks find something? Like what’s even the point? What’s your goal?