While COVID-19 is hurting employment in many sectors of the economy, it also is creating employment opportunities in others. Reports across the country are that retailers like CVS, Walmart, Albertsons, Amazon, Instacart and others are hiring thousands of workers to keep up with the changes in consumers’ buying habits. One report noted that Instacart was looking to hire 300,000 individuals, CVS was looking to add 50,000 positions, Walmart was looking to add 150,000 positions, Albertsons sought 30,000 new employees, and Amazon sought 100,000 individuals for various full and part-time roles.
When these employers hire, they often perform background checks on their prospective hires. These background checks do not always reflect accurate or up-to-date information. And when they are wrong or not up-to-date, they sometimes cause an employer to decline to continue with the hiring process. Sometimes the background checks mix up a prospective hire with someone else with the same name. Sometimes they show a conviction that has been expunged. Sometimes they show a felony when the crime was a simple misdemeanor. And when these errors occur, oftentimes the prospective employers, like CVS, Walmart, Albertsons, Amazon, Instacart and others, will not move forward with employment.
Fortunately for prospective employees and others, the Fair Credit Reporting Act provides certain rights when these scenarios arise and cause a loss of employment, including the right to file a lawsuit and seek damages from the background check companies. The background check attorneys at Weiner & Sand LLC are continuing to work during this difficult period to protect the rights of employees and others who have been harmed by background checks. For more information, or to discuss your rights, check out https://www.wsjustice.com/background-reports or contact us.