Employment laws regularly include record keeping requirements.  And while these requirements are rarely front and center, they can rear their head and open companies to legal action.  This month the EEOC filed suit in Philadelphia against a nationwide provider of janitorial and facilities management services for failing to maintain records and other information relating to how its employee selection procedures impact equal employment opportunities.

Under Title VII, covered employers must maintain records that disclose the impact that their selection procedures have on employment opportunities of individuals identifiable by race, sex, or ethnic group. In this lawsuit, EEOC claims that the company failed to make and keep records of applicants’ criminal background checks and criminal history assessments, information that they use to make ultimate hiring decisions.  According to the EEOC, these records are necessary to show the impact that the company’s selection procedures have on individuals identifiable by race, sex, or ethnic group.  The EEOC is seeking an injunction requiring the company to make and keep these records.  This case is an important reminder for employers to ensure that they are properly making and keeping the records required by applicable federal, state, and local statutes and regulations.

Given the EEOC’s focus on records regarding criminal history and background checks, companies should also confirm compliance with federal, state and local laws regarding background checks, and how and when they are conducted and used.  As we have previously discussed in this blog, a growing number of state and local governments have enacted “Ban-the-Box” legislation, putting restrictions on when criminal history information may be gathered.  Companies that haven’t recently reviewed policies and procedures relating to retention of employee and applicant information, or that haven’t carefully considered whether their use of background checks is legally compliant, should do so.