The recent example that ride-hail company Lyft employed as part of their prevention policy to help thwart the possibility of their driver’s committing offenses such as sexual assault may become a best practice for other companies in the USA. This practice is called “Continuous Background Checking”, a process in which an employer performs ongoing criminal background checks on their employees, part-time employees and even independent contractors in this Gig Economy in an ongoing way say once a year or less to ensure that if new offenses occur they will become aware of them hopefully in time to mitigate risk.
The rideshare company Lyft has recently faced legal challenges regarding sexual assault. Inadequate background checks are cited as one of the core problems regarding Lyft’s hiring practices.
From CBSNews.com (Sep 05, 19):
Fourteen women who said they were raped or sexually assaulted by Lyft drivers are suing the ride-hail company. The suit claims Lyft mishandled their complaints against drivers, in some cases allowing the drivers to continue working following the alleged assaults.
In the lawsuit, filed Wednesday in San Francisco, the anonymous women claim the app does not do enough to stop drivers from assaulting passengers. They allege Lyft fails to adequately perform background checks, does not communicate with victims after they accuse drivers of sexual assault, and does not have adequate technology in place to protect passengers. cbsnews.com/news/lyft-lawsuit-14-women-file-lawsuit-after-drivers-allegedly-sexually-assaulted-them/
As a result of all these sexual assault claims Lyft started using continuous background checks as part of their prevention policy and this may prove advantageous. Continuous background checks are a growing trend in employment background screening.
From BusinessInsider.com (Sep 10, 19):
Tuesday’s announcements add to previous safety features that have been part of Lyft’s app for some time, like continuous criminal background checks that flag any drivers who may turn up in databases following their initial hiring, and location sharing. businessinsider.com/lyft-drivers-required-to-take-safety-training-after-attacks-lawsuit-2019-9
Continuous background checks are increasing in popularity and could be an important addition to any companies’ background screening policy. In the light that there were fourteen women so said they were either raped or sexually assaulted by Lyft drivers it is important for companies and organizations doing continuous background checks that they include a 50 State Sex Offender Registry check each time they perform a background check.
In addition to a complete criminal background check one that includes a sex offender check it is also very advantageous to perform a Social Security Number Search with Address History Trace so the employer can see all the places that a person has lived to make sure they do background screening from every place the person has lived.
To read more about this subject read recent press release found at:
Lyft Potential Example of Continuous Background Screening Best Practice; Opines CriminalBackgroundRecords.com