May 11, 2023 @ 12:12 PM EDT | United States
On Thursday, May 4, 2023, The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) announced that the Covid-19 flexibilities for physical inspection of Form I-9 documents will be on Monday, July 31, 2023. Employers will then have 30 days to complete all required physical inspections of identity and employment eligibility documents to reach compliance by Wednesday, August 30,
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the DHS put into effect temporary measures that allowed virtual inspection of Form I-9 documents when employees were hired. A condition of these temporary measures was the need to perform re-inspection once the remote inspection measures are sunsetted.
Contact your client success partner if you need assistance generating your list of Form I-9 documents that will need physical verification.
May 4, 2023 @ 7:08 PM EDT | Global, United States
At Sterling, we believe everyone has the right to feel safe. We continuously monitor for cyber threats and other vulnerabilities to provide the foundation of safety and trust you need to hire with confidence.
As part of our security monitoring program, we recently became aware of a potential email-based spear-phishing attack using an email address that appears to be from a known or trusted sender at Sterling. We believe that a malicious actor may be trying to impersonate Sterling personnel to divert payments away from Sterling.
To protect against this threat, please ensure that you scrutinize any email purporting to be from Sterling asking you to change banking details. If you receive an email asking to change payment information, always confirm the request with a trusted Sterling source before making any changes.
How to report phishing
If you question the validity of a message that appears to be from us, please contact your dedicated Sterling Client Success representative or Client Support.
How to recognize phishing
If you receive an email from Sterling, please ensure that it is coming from Sterling’s authorized email domain such as sterlingcheck.com, sterlingts.com, talentwise.com, sterlingcheck.app and sterlingdirect.com. If there’s any variation such as sterllngcheck.com, Sterlingdirect[.]co, Sterlingdirect[.]cm, Sterling-direct[.]com, Sterlingdirect[.]net, please be aware that these do not belong to us.
While we can’t prevent all activities that may occur using fraudulent addresses, we can minimize risk together. Thank you in advance for your partnership, and most importantly, your continued trust in Sterling.
May 1, 2023 @ 9:41 AM EDT | Global, United States
On October 12 and 13, 2020, Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer signed a package of six bills into law to expand criminal record expungement in the state or more commonly known as “Clean Slate” laws. The new laws became effective 180 days after signing (April 11, 2021). With the passage of these laws Michigan joins a growing number of other states passing Clean Slate laws. More information on these bills can found here.
As stated in HB 4980, beginning Tuesday, April 11, 2023 (two years after the effective date of the amendments) an automated process for setting aside conviction records was implemented. Courts are beginning to remove qualified criminal records and transition to new public record systems. The law’s implementation requires numerous administrative logistics at various levels within the courts and state police.
First, each court must notify the arresting law enforcement agency of each conviction on or before the tenth day of each month that is set aside for the preceding month. Second, a felony conviction that is recorded and maintained in the department of state police database must be set aside automatically if both of the following apply:
- Ten years have passed from whichever of the following events occurs last:
(i) Imposition of the sentence for the conviction.
(ii) Completion of any term of imprisonment with the department of corrections for the conviction.
- The conviction or convictions are otherwise eligible to be set aside under the law.
In addition, the department of state police must create and maintain an electronically accessible record of each conviction recorded and maintained in the department of state police database that was set aside under the law that must be provided to or accessible by each court in the state.
Employers who conduct background checks in Michigan should expect to see delays in courts processing requests for records, as well as limitations in the scope of records available. Records previously reported may no longer a part of public record.
The Information contained herein is for informational purposes only. Sterling is not a law firm, and none of the information contained in this notice is intended as legal advice. Clients are encouraged to consult with their legal counsel about the impacts of any requirements. This and other important legislative updates can be found on the Sterling website: https://www.sterlingcheck.com/resources/compliance-updates/
Sterling is not a law firm. This publication is for informational purposes only and nothing contained in it should be construed as legal advice. We expressly disclaim any warranty or responsibility for damages arising out this information. We encourage you to consult with legal counsel regarding your specific needs. We do not undertake any duty to update previously posted materials.
Apr 19, 2023 @ 12:40 PM EDT | Global, United States
From 10:54 a.m. ET to 12:26 p.m. ET on Wednesday, April 19, 2023, our E-Verify provider experienced intermittent delays due to technical issues. As of 12:26 p.m. ET, our E-Verify provider has restored services, and users can now create and submit cases without experiencing system timeouts and increased processing times.
We apologize for the inconvenience.
Apr 19, 2023 @ 11:46 AM EDT | Global, United States
Starting Wednesday, April 19, 2023 at ~10:54 a.m. ET, our E-Verify provider is currently experiencing intermittent delays due to technical issues. As a result, some users may be experiencing timeouts and increased processing times when creating and submitting cases.
Our provider is actively working to resolve and we will provide you updates as they become available. We apologize for the inconvenience.
Apr 17, 2023 @ 7:11 PM EDT | Global, United States
Two bills have been introduced in the 2023 California legislative session that could significantly impact criminal background screening in the State. Senate Bill 809 seeks to overhaul the California Fair Chance Act, effectively prohibiting criminal background checks absent pre-existing legislative requirements. Senate Bill 647 seeks to make court record information including Date of Birth (DOB) accessible as part of the public record for use in background checks.
Senate Bill 809
Senate Bill 809 (SB-809) “Fair Chance Act of 2023” was introduced on February 17, 2023. If passed, SB-809 would severely restrict employers’ ability to run criminal checks on job candidates. Currently, employers are permitted to run criminal background checks as long as they follow the mandated individualized assessment process and follow state requirements. The bill would essentially make criminal checks illegal by making it an unlawful employment practice to take adverse action based on arrest or conviction history. It also would make it unlawful to end an interview, reject an application, or otherwise terminate the employment or promotion application process based on conviction history information provided by the applicant or learned from any other source.
SB-809 would authorize employers to conduct a conviction history background check only in specified circumstances such as when required by state or federal law. If employers are authorized to conduct background checks by law, the employer would still have to perform an individualized assessment of any criminal conviction records to determine whether the record has a direct and adverse relationship with one or more specific duties of the job.
SB-809 would also amend the California Investigative Consumer Reporting Agencies Act by requiring a candidate disclosure that includes either (1) all the specific job duties of the position for which a conviction may have a direct and adverse relationship that has the potential to result in an adverse employment action; or (2) all laws and regulations that prohibit or restrict the hiring or employment on the basis of a conviction.
The full bill SB-809 can be found here.
Senate Bill 647
On February 16, 2023, California Senate Bill 647 (SB-647) was introduced in the California legislature. SB-647 would authorize the clerk of the superior court to allow access to public record information that identifies criminal defendants to a person who certifies under penalty of perjury both of the following:
- (1) The person is reviewing or obtaining the information for the preparation of a consumer report by a consumer reporting agency regulated by the federal Fair Credit Report Act (15 U.S.C. Sec. 1681 et seq.).
- (2) The person who is the subject of the report has consented to the preparation of the consumer report.
SB-647 seeks to restore access to date of birth in public records in California. Last year, a similar bill, California Senate Bill 1262 (SB-1262) was introduced as a result of the California Court of Appeals decision in the case All of Us or None etc. v. Hamrick which led to the removal of date-of-birth information from various online court access portals and public-access terminals in the court houses. SB 1262 was passed by the legislature; however, it was vetoed by the Governor on September 29, 2022.
The new bill seeks to address the severe impact on background screening that has resulted from date of birth being removed from publicly available information, which has resulted in long delays and difficulties in determining that records belong to a specific person.
While the future of both of these bills is uncertain, Sterling will be monitoring the status of both SB-647 and SB-809. Employers are encouraged to also monitor these bills as they work their way through the California legislature. California based employers may want to consider contacting their applicable state representative regarding the impacts these bills would have on their screening programs.
The full bill SB-647 can be found here.
The Information contained herein is for informational purposes only. Sterling is not a law firm, and none of the information contained in this notice is intended as legal advice. Clients are encouraged to consult with their legal counsel about the impacts of any requirements. This and other important legislative updates can be found on the Sterling website: https://www.sterlingcheck.com/resources/compliance-updates/
