Arnall Golden Gregory LLP is pleased to provide you with the Compliance News Flash, brought to you each Friday. This weekly update is your source for timely background screening and immigration-related news that is important to your organization.
- Not that this will come as a complete surprise to some, but litigation under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) increased almost 60% in September 2017 as compared to September of last year according to WebRecon LLC. In fact, FCRA-related litigation is up 13.5% YTD according to WebRecon LLC. Back to September of this year, 44.1% of FCRA lawsuits filed were putative class actions. And finally, according to WebRecon LLC, of the 11,820 consumer lawsuits filed under the FCRA, Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA), and the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) – 3,328 allege FCRA violations.
- If you are in Atlanta please join me, and my colleagues at Arnall Golden Gregory (AGG) for our annual Employment Law Seminar on Friday, November 17, 2017 at the Cobb Energy Performing Arts Centre. Our attorneys—who have been recognized by Chambers USA: America's Leading Lawyers for Business and Super Lawyers—will address what you need to know regarding employer rights and obligations under the Trump Administration. Topics include establishing a compliant background screening program, sexual harassment in the workplace, preventing violence in the workplace, understanding wage and hour law, and other topics. Registration is free and complimentary breakfast and lunch are included. Click here to register.
- Just a reminder that New York City’s pay equity law went into effect this week, on November 1, 2017. Meaning, employers and their agents are prohibited from inquiring about or relying on an applicant’s salary history during the hiring process, including on the employment application. Doing so would be considered an unlawful discriminatory practice under the New York City Human Rights Law. Read more about the law on my blog (click here) and on the New York City (NYC) Human Rights’ webpage (click here). Regarding pre-employment background checks and income history, in the FAQ section the NYC Commission on Human Rights “recommends that employers specify to reporting agencies that information about salary history be excluded from the report. Inquiries into salary history violate the Law regardless of whether such inquiries are made before or after a conditional offer unless they are made to verify representations offered by an applicant who disclosed their salary history voluntarily and without prompting.”
- In news at the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), President Trump has nominated antitrust attorney Joseph Simons of Paul Weiss to chair the Commission. Simons would take over for Maureen Ohlhausen, who has been acting chairman of the FTC since January of 2017. Trump also nominated Noah Phillips, chief counsel for Senator John Cornyn (R-TX), as well as Consumer Federation of America’s Rohit Chopra to the FTC. They will fill, respectively, the Republican and Democratic seats. All three nominations require Senate confirmation. Currently there are only two sitting members on the Commission, Republican Maureen Ohlhausen and Democrat Terrell McSweeny.
- Employers – if you have received an email requesting Form I-9 information that appears to come from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), it’s a scam according to USCIS. Employers must maintain their own Employment Eligibility Verification forms (the “Form I-9”) for all current employees. Employers do not file the Form I-9 with USCIS or otherwise have to provide the government with the Form I-9 unless they are the subject of a worksite enforcement investigation by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). USCIS and ICE both fall under the Department of Homeland Security. Employers must retain the Form I-9 for all current employees. Once an employee is terminated, their Form I-9 can be set aside and retained for the following period of time – three years from the date or hire or one year after termination, whichever is later.
If you have any questions or need assistance on any point raised in this Compliance News Flash please contact:
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Montserrat C. Miller
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The information presented provides a general summary and/or recent legal and regulatory developments. It is not intended to be, and should not be relied upon as legal advice.
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