What the FCRA means to you

You have rights under the FCRA, and the document A Summary of Your Rights clearly lays them out. If an employer decides to run a background check on you through a consumer reporting agency, the FCRA states that the employer must:

• Notify you that they’ll conduct a background check and that the results could influence their decision to hire you
• Get your written consent to conduct employment screening through a background check company
• Notify you if the results of the background check make them consider not hiring you. When they send you this notice (called a pre-adverse action notice), employers must also:
• Give you a copy of the background check results
• Provide the name, address, and phone number of the background screening company that ran the check
• Include a copy of your rights under the FCRA
• Allow time (typically five days) for you to file a dispute if there are inaccurate results

All these steps must happen before the employer makes a final decision.  If the employer still decides not to hire you after following all these steps – and allowing time for the consumer reporting agency to reinvestigate, if you filed a dispute – they must send you a final adverse action notice in writing.