Pre-Employment Screening hits a hurdle with the removal of personally identifiable information like individuals dates of birth from public records that will make it extremely difficult to match criminal background records with the person who committed the offense.
Redaction of personal identifiers will create challenges for hiring managers and HR departments and suggests a best practice remains to work with a well-qualified third-party pre-employment background screening agency to remain up-to-date with changes in background screening and applicant vetting.
Pulling public records from County Courthouses has received a blow as more states are limiting the use of identifiers, such as DOB or CDL numbers, on public records, and this action will have serious implications for vetting applicants.
Recently, in Michigan, the use of identifiers has become limited by law.
From PBSA.org, a leading industry group for Background Screening, in June 2021 (No specific date provided):
Effective July 1, 2021 Michigan courts will redact date of birth (DOB) from their public records available through courthouses. This change is the result of Michigan’s ADM File No. 2017-28 and 2020-26 adopted by the Supreme Court that the State Court Administrative Office has interpreted to require clerks not to use or provide DOB in searches. This means that only one identifier (Name) will be available on court records. This change will impact all criminal background checks in Michigan until further notice. thepbsa.org/government-relations/michigan-dob-redaction-information/
Additional courts across the country are beginning to follow the same process highlighted by Michigan’s action, and could create significant challenges to those vetting employment applications.
In California a court challenge ruled that the use of identifiers should be limited.
From NBCPalmSprings.com on June 28, 2021:
All of Us or None argued that permitting the use of dates of birth and driver license numbers to initiate a search was a violation of Rule 2.507 and sections of the Government Code. nbcpalmsprings.com/2021/06/28/fees-now-in-effect-to-view-superior-court-criminal-records-online/
Michigan is not the only state to go in this direction. Other states, such as California, have varying degrees of redaction of identifiers. While public record searches will continue, the use of a single identifier (first, middle, last name) will push HR departments and hiring managers to work very closely with a third-party pre-employment background screening agency in order to properly match identities of candidates to public records.
Additionally the Professional Background Screening Association or PBSA is currently lobbying the State of Michigan to not go through with their plans as it would be a disaster for the court record retrieval process and could prevent many employers and landlords from finding out about their applicant’s criminal past that could cause tremendous risks to the safety of their employees and tenants.
To read more about this subject read recent press release found at: DOB and Other Identifiers Removed from Public Records, Potentially Slowing the Background Screening Process; Opines CriminalBackgroundRecords.com