Service Advisory: Michigan Department of State system maintenance to cause processing delays for Michigan motor vehicle records

Mar 10, 2021 @ 12:39 PM EST | United States

Starting Thursday, March 11, 2021 to Sunday, March 14, 2021, Michigan Department of State will be conducting system maintenance on its Motor Vehicle Records (MVR). Please note Michigan MVR searches will be unavailable during the maintenance window, but we will process your requests as soon as searches become available. Thank you in advance for your patience.

Service Advisory Update: Mid-South winter storm extends into Midwest/Northeast with more delays expected

Mar 8, 2021 @ 12:00 PM EST | United States

Update on March 8, 2021: Due to severe storms in Memphis, Tennessee from February 15 to 18, 2021, FedEx has experienced widespread shipping delays and a backlog of lab specimens to all our partner labs. Please note the following:
  • eScreen was notified by FedEx of several packages lost during the storm. eScreen has since reported this to be 92 total packages from February 15 – 17.
  • Quest has received no FedEx communication. While their backlog is caught up, their lab received some specimens on Friday from February 19.
  • Additionally, LabCorp is reporting some weather-related specimens still trickling into their labs, but have not provided actual counts yet.
As a result, Sterling will close out any orders as “Lost in Transit” for specimens from February 15-17 that have not been received by the lab. If you have any questions, please contact your Sterling Client Success representative. Update on March 1, 2021: Due to severe storms in Memphis, Tennessee from February 15 to 18, 2021, FedEx has experienced widespread shipping delays and a backlog of lab specimens to all our partner labs. Delayed tests should now have been delivered to the labs and should be completed in the next one to three days (or longer if a test requires additional follow up). We recommend that you leave original drug tests open, allowing results to be received once available. Sterling does not recommend closing drug test results due to storm delays as “lost in transit”. If you want to have candidates get re-tested, you can add a new drug test to the order, but should leave the original search open to receive results when delivered. We will continue to supply you updates as they become available. Update on February 24, 2021: Due to a severe storm in Memphis, Tennessee, Sterling anticipates continued shipping delays of lab specimens to all our partner labs as FedEx works through its backlog. Turnaround time has been extended to five to seven days. We recommend that you leave original drug tests open, allowing results to be received once available. Sterling does not recommend closing drug test results due to storm delays as “lost in transit”. If you want to have candidates get re-tested, you can add a new drug test to the order, but should leave the original search open to receive results when delivered. We will continue to supply you updates as they become available. Update on February 23, 2021: Due to a severe storm in Memphis, Tennessee, Sterling anticipates continued shipping delays of lab specimens to all our partner labs as FedEx works through its backlog. Turnaround time continues to be impacted between two to five days, but we recommend that you leave original drug tests open, allowing results to be received once available. Sterling does not recommend closing drug test results due to storm delays as “lost in transit”. If you want to have candidates get re-tested, you can add a new drug test to the order, but should leave the original search open to receive results when delivered. We will continue to supply you updates as they become available. Update on February 19, 2021: Extreme weather conditions swept across much of the country this week As a result, we anticipate continued delays for criminal, verification, and drug and health services, including in Arkansas, Delaware, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and West Virginia. Extended delays are expected for criminal searches and verifications with external dependencies. Patient Service Centers and eScreen managed collection sites may also be impacted. We strongly encourage clients and their candidates to contact their chosen collection site to verify hours of operation in impacted states. Additionally, the severe ice storm that hit Memphis, FedEx’s primary hub, is causing widespread shipping delays of lab specimens to all our partner labs. Turnaround time continues to be impacted between 3 – 5 days. Because all FedEx packages flow through and are sorted for distribution in Memphis, delays have impacted all packages regardless of location since the storm began at the beginning of the week. More information can be found on FedEx’s service delays website. Thank you for your patience. Update on February 17, 2021: Another winter storm will bring snow and ice to approximately 100 million people from the South to the East Coast over the next couple of days. As a result, we anticipate continued delays for criminal, verification, and drug and health services across Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and West Virginia. Patient Service Centers and eScreen managed collection sites may also be impacted. We strongly encourage clients and their candidates to contact their chosen collection site to verify hours of operation in impacted states. Additionally, we have confirmed reports of transit delays of lab specimens to all our partner labs that may increase turnaround times by approximately three to five days. We also anticipate similar delays to the shipment of supplies (COCs, collection kits, shipping supplies, etc.) to our customers. Thank you for your patience. Update on February 15, 2021: The U.S. continues to experience another winter storm that recently hit the mid-South – impacting Kentucky, Arkansas, Mississippi, Texas. While Kentucky has experienced court closures in Barren, Jefferson, Kenton, Warren, and McCracken jurisdictions, the winter storm is expected to head into the Midwest/Northeast parts of the U.S. today. Like the mid-South, we anticipate continued delays for criminal, verifications and drug and health screening services. We also have confirmed reports of transit delays of lab specimens with shipping providers due to the winter storms that will may increase turnaround times 1-2 days. Published February 12, 2021: A winter storm recently hit the mid-South – impacting Kentucky, Texas and parts of Tennessee and West Virginia. We are also aware of the Kentucky court closures in Boone, Jefferson, Kenton and McCracken jurisdictions.  As a result, we anticipate delays for criminal searches and verifications with external dependencies. Patient Service Centers and eScreen managed collection sites may also be impacted. We strongly encourage clients and their candidates to contact their chosen collection site to verify hours of operation. Thank you for your patience.

Service Advisory: Federal and Civil Federal fulfillment delays

Mar 2, 2021 @ 1:48 PM EST | United States

Please be advised federal and civil federal services were unavailable from Monday, March 1, 2021, starting at 11:30 a.m. to 4:00 a.m. ET, Tuesday, March 2, 2021. While fulfillment has resumed, please expect fulfillment delays of up to 24 hours. Thank you for your patience.

Sterling introduces updates to align with compliance best practices

Feb 24, 2021 @ 10:20 AM EST | United States

Starting Thursday, March 11, 2021, Sterling is introducing the following updates to align with compliance best practices.
  1. Updated forms. Sterling is making text updates to our standard sample Disclosure, Investigative Disclosure, California Disclosure, State Law Notices, and Authorization forms to more closely align with best practices.
  2. New, dynamic credit language functionality for standard sample forms. We are making the “credit” language on the standard FCRA sample disclosure and California disclosure dynamic. As a result, credit history will only be referenced in the disclosures when a credit search is included in your order. At the moment, the dynamic credit language functionality applies only to those clients using Sterling sample forms. Action may be required: If you use custom forms, consider utilizing separate consent workflows when a credit check is included in the order. Please review your current forms and consult with your legal counsel to determine if you should modify your forms.
  3. Other state law notices. We are updating the candidate workflow to include a summary list of additional state and city notices where notice is required, along with hyperlinks to the notices where applicable.
  4. Updates to state summaries of rights and security freeze notices.
    • Stand-alone summaries of rights and security freeze notices will be limited to the Federal “A Summary of Your Rights Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act” and New York Correction Law Article 23-A.
    • The following state summaries of rights and security freeze notices have been updated and will be included when notices are required:
      • Summary of Rights: California, Maryland, Massachusetts, Nevada, New Jersey, Texas, Washington, and New York Correction Law Article 23-A.
      • Security Freeze Notice: Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Missouri, Montana, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Washington D.C.
At Sterling, our in-house compliance experts monitor changes in hiring policies to help you stay ahead of best practices and ever-changing regulations. If you have any questions, please contact your Sterling Client Success representative.

Compliance Update: Philadelphia Criminal Record and Credit Screening Amendments

Feb 23, 2021 @ 2:01 PM EST | United States

On January 20, 2021, Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney signed Bill No. 200479 (the “Amendments”) into law, thereby amending the Fair Criminal Record Screening Standards (the “Standards”) codified in Chapter 9-3500 of the Philadelphia Code.

The Standards initially took effect in 2011, placing Philadelphia among the first cities to ban the box for private employers, and prohibited those employing ten or more persons within the City from making inquiries into applicants’ criminal histories during the application process, and inquiries or adverse actions related to applicants’ non-pending arrests and non-convictions. In December 2015, amendments were enacted to expand the Standards to apply to employers who employed any persons within the City, limited consideration of applicants’ criminal histories to a seven year lookback period, required individualized assessments prior to revoking conditional offers, and required employers to allow applicants ten business days to respond to findings on their criminal history report. Additional amendments in 2018 prohibited employers from inquiries or adverse actions in relation to juvenile records.

The 2021 Amendments, which take effect on April 1, 2021, further expand upon the Standards in several ways. Notably, their scope is broadened to afford their protections to current employees, as well as independent contractors, rideshare drivers, and gig workers. Additionally, the definition of “Private Employer” is updated to  include “…any third-party person or entity that facilitates the relationship of work for pay between two other parties, as full-time or part-time employees or as independent contractors,” thereby extending the Standards’ requirements and prohibitions to such entities. Furthermore, the Amendments include the following clarifications:

  • Employers are permitted to inquire about employees’ pending criminal charges, but only if they have reasonably reliable information which indicates that a pending charge has been filed, and that it is related to the duties of their job. This must be done pursuant to a written policy outlining which offenses the employer will consider reportable, and adverse action may only be taken if the offense bears relationship to the employee’s duties, or would pose unacceptable risk, and is driven by business necessity
  • Inquiries into criminal history which may be required by state or federal law must still be delayed until a conditional offer has been extended

In addition to these updates, on January 20, 20221, the City also enacted Bill No. 200413 to amend the Philadelphia Code’s restrictions on credit screening for employment purposes. These restrictions, passed in 2016, established that it is an unlawful discriminatory practice to procure or make employment decisions related to an applicant or employee’s credit history, with certain exceptions. The recent amendments strike the exemption that was included for law enforcement agencies and financial institutions. Therefore, in order for these employers to run credit on applicants or employees, one or more of the remaining criteria must be met. More information about these exemptions, and other details about Philadelphia’s credit history restrictions, can be found in our Compliance Update from July 2016.

Employers located in Philadelphia, or who employ workers within the city, should review the Amendments against their current screening and inquiry practices in consultation with their legal counsel. Additionally, employers who screen for pending charges should work with their counsel to develop policies outlining if and how such offenses should be considered. Sterling clients who would like to modify their services in light of the Amendments should contact their account representative to assist in aligning their programs with the requirements. Employers who rescreen existing employees, and those who hire contractors or gig workers in Philadelphia are especially encouraged to review their programs and reach out to their representatives for assistance in bringing all applicable workers into their scope.

Philadelphia employers should also review their credit screening practices in consultation with their legal counsel to determine if, and to what extent, they should be running credit checks. Financial institutions who hire in Philadelphia are especially encouraged to review their practices since they will no longer be broadly exempt and should evaluate based on specific duties and positions. Sterling clients who would like to modify their service offerings or set up non-credit packages to assist in their compliance with these updates, should contact their account representative.

The full text of Bill No. 200479 can be found here: here. The full text of Bill No. 200413 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/

Important Update: Department of Transportation (DOT) Employment Verification results

Feb 18, 2021 @ 1:51 PM EST | United States

Sterling’s robust verification services take the burden off your teams by delivering fast, accurate verifications of a candidate’s background. Currently, our Department of Transportation (DOT) Employment Verification service provides a result of ‘Complete’, and doesn’t provide additional details on the result of the verification request.

Starting Thursday, February 25, 2021, we are adding confirmation details to make it easier for you and your candidate to interpret DOT Employment Verification results and determine next steps. The following seven new result descriptions will give you more transparency on status results: Verified – DOT forms have been provided to the client | Review Required – DOT forms have been provided to the client | Review Required – Position not DOT regulated | Unable to Complete – No DOT consent received | Unable to Complete – No response from employer | Unable to Complete – Closed per clients request | Other – Please describe below. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to reach out. Thank you for your continued trust.