Privacy Case: Background Checks

Dilemma: In the past E-Kin has been having some trouble with the quality of some of their employees. Some of the problems are as follows: merchandise is turning up missing, accounting irregularities that could lead to an audit of the company, a high rate of turnover for production line employees, and a lack of product quality issue complaints from customers. E-Kin is trying to decide how it can improve the quality of its employees to hopefully minimize these problems in the future. How can E-Kin change its interview process to meet these higher standards and hire more qualified individuals?

This is the question that Ken Wisdom, the new Vice-President of Human Resources has to answer with the help of his legal department and his HR staff.

Andy Lance Chaser, a lawyer for E-Kin, has offered one possible solution to help give the company more personal information on potential employees. He thinks the company should do a much more extensive background check and use the information to gain a more complete picture of the quality of the job applicants. Andy has an Internet software package that he has used to procure credit reports on legal clients. However, when he does a credit report search he can get much more than credit information on a person. He recommends using this information as another tool to help E-kin hire the best people.

For instance, the credit report not only gives a credit rating, but can also show the amount of debt this person has, what is in their bank account, complete credit card numbers, hidden assets, unlisted phone numbers, taxes they pay, and car or house payments that they have to make in the near future, etc. This could help E-Kin know how willing an applicant is to take a potential job. The company could base their salary offer on the individual's need. This could help keep salary costs to a minimum.

There is also extensive criminal history available on applicants. Everything from a parking ticket, to a minor in possession, to a shoplifting charge that was later dropped could be used to get a better description of the individual. If this information is used it could potentially cut down on merchandise that is being stolen and keep only the most qualified workers at E-Kin.

Extensive medical histories are also readily available. If a person has had serious illness or injury in the past or is predisposed to illness in the future it could be factored in to see if they will be the best worker or if it could cause problems in the future. This could save E-Kin money in limiting people who may need extensive sick leave and lower the cost of medical insurance for the company.

All of this added information could be used to give the company a better description of new applicants. Information provided by this software can help HR meet its stricter requirement’s in the hiring process and improve the workforce at E-Kin.

Questions:

- E-Kin has good intentions but is using the reporting software the best way to improve its workforce?
- Is using the reporting software ethical? It is legal, but is it right?
- Is using the reporting software cyber-snooping?
- Should a person’s medical situation which they cannot control, (smoking vs. predisposed to cancer), be held against them?
- How far back should a company go when looking into an applicant’s criminal history? If a person made a mistake as a teenager should it be held against him or her? Can people change, and should we give them a chance to succeed and change their life?
- Should the monetary needs of an individual be a factor in the salary offer made to them?
- Will using the reporting software hurt the level of trust that current employees have? What would be the public’s perception of such a practice? Would anyone apply at E-Kin if they knew of the scrutiny on their personal lives?
- What are the legal ramifications to E-Kin if someone sued the company because of these practices?
- The bottom line: Should E-Kin use this readily available personal information in the hiring process, or is this going too far?

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E-Kin2: A Case Study
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