Manage HR Magazine | Tuesday, April 30, 2024
Labor law trends will significantly impact hiring processes, criminal background screening, and the use of AI in employment decisions.
FREMONT, CA: In 2024, several labor law trends are expected to impact employers' hiring processes, criminal background screening, and the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in making hiring decisions. These changes are influenced by the evolution of labor laws and the need for employers to stay updated with best practices.
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Clean Slate Laws: These laws aim to broaden employment opportunities for first-time offenders of low-level offenses by removing specific criminal records from public court records. Employers in the US may need help to stay informed about these laws, as they are enacted at both state and local levels. Employers should consider how to handle information found during a criminal background check and identify types of offenses that could impact employment, given specific job requirements and workplace safety and organizational risk.
Fair Chance Laws: Fair chance rules impose additional criteria when considering criminal histories throughout the hiring process. Before initiating the adverse action process against a candidate, employers in California are now required to perform preliminary assessments of criminal history data. This allows candidates more time to respond and present supporting documentation or mitigating information before an employer makes a final hiring decision.
Although many businesses currently abide by fair chance standards informally, these new legal obligations should force them to review their current policies and procedures with legal advice and record compliance by documenting their practices.
AI for Use in Employment Decision-Making: Though legislation and federal measures regarding the use of AI for employment are still relatively new, they have expanded quickly since 2020. Employers must now know the most recent legislative and regulatory initiatives governing artificial intelligence (AI) and automated employment decision technologies (AEDTs). The use of AI by companies to determine hiring practices and the possibility of bias and discrimination in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 are significant concerns for legislators and regulators.
Establishing or enforcing organizational-wide procedures outlining permissible usage of automation and AI is prohibited for organizations that require an AI employment policy. However, organizations can draft and revise these policies in light of EEOC advice and other regulatory updates to ensure they abide by the federal government's equal opportunity rules when using AI technologies and comparable tools.
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