Post Offer Background Screening Procedures For Administrative and Support Staff Employees Who Have Been Hired at Gettysburg College
A. Application of Policy
These procedures apply to all new employees for administrative or support staff positions at Gettysburg College as well as some volunteers.This includes all full-time, part-time, and casual administrative and support staff employees as well as unpaid volunteers and interns who have significant interaction with our Gettysburg College students (Athletics, College Life, etc).Employees and volunteers who work with Minors are required to complete an additional set of background check clearances (see the Minors and Children on Campus Policy for those procedures).
B. Background
The College’s academic mission is supported by qualified employees and volunteers, working in a safe
and secure environment. It is our intention to ensure that Gettysburg College is hiring employees for our positions with the lowest risk of harm to the institution and its constituents.
Toward that end, these procedures outline the criminal background checks and sex and violent offender registry checks that will be performed on all new employees at Gettysburg College as well as volunteers and interns who have significant interaction with our students. These procedures provide measures to guard against adverse effects from potential forms of bias in the criminal justice system on the hiring process of Gettysburg employees.
C. Statement of General Policy
For administrative and support staff positions, it is the policy of Gettysburg College that all new employees as well as volunteers and interns who have significant interaction with Gettysburg College students have their criminal background records and sex and violent offender registries checked as soon as possible after an offer of employment has been accepted.
D. Definitions
1. "National criminal background check" means determining if the new employee (or volunteer) has any felony or misdemeanor criminal convictions in any jurisdiction where the new employee currently resides, or has resided. This verification will check, at a minimum, the previous 7 years, in every jurisdiction covered by the vendor. Some states provide information beyond 7 years.The existence of criminal conviction(s) does not by itself prevent a new employee (or volunteer) from continuing his/her employment; see section G. of these procedures for further detail. The following convictions need not be reported by applicants, and, if discovered, will not be a detriment to consideration for employment:
a. any conviction or plea that has been pardoned, sealed or expunged by court order, or that has been dismissed pursuant to a pre-trial diversion or accelerated rehabilitative disposition program (ARD);
b. juvenile records, if maintained in juvenile court;
c. isolated summary offenses, such as minor traffic violations,
(multiple summary offenses, including traffic violations will be considered).
2. "Sex and violent offender registry check" means verifying the new employee (or volunteer) does not have convictions of certain sex and violent crimes where the employee (or volunteer) currently resides or has resided.This verification will check, at a minimum, the previous 7 years, in every jurisdiction covered by the vendor.Some states provide information beyond 7 years.
E. Policy Provisions
1. All new Gettysburg College administrators and support staff, as well as volunteers and interns who have significant interaction with our students, shall have the following two checks completed as soon as possible after an offer of employment has been made and accepted.
a) a criminal background check: and
b) a sex and violent offender registry check.
2. If the College has performed any of the above background checks on an individual within the past 5 years, a new background check of that specific category will not be required.
F. Background Screening Process
1. Verifications and checks should be completed as soon as possible after an offer of employment has been made and accepted.
a. After an offer of employment has been made and accepted, the hiring manager (or designee) will complete the online Personnel Action Form (available November 1, 2015) .The employee (or volunteer) is not permitted to start work until at least 5 business days have passed after the form has been submitted.
b. The Human Resources Office will be notified electronically that a person has been hired for a position at the College.This is an automated process.
c. The Human Resources Office will notify the background check screening vendor (CBY Systems).CBY Systems will contact the new employee (or volunteer) via email (through their QuickApps feature) to obtain all of the necessary information to complete the check (official name, date of birth and social security number).
d. New employees and volunteers are instructed to complete the required online forms through CBY within 48 hours.
e. The background check must be completed within the new employee’s first 90 days, or he/she must stop working.
f. The Human Resources Office shall maintain all background check records on employees and volunteers.
g. The Human Resources will be responsible for all fees associated with any of the components of the background check process, and will coordinate the receipt and payment of the background check vendor's fees through the Recruitment Budget.
G. Process for handling information from background checks
The background check vendor will inform the Human Resources Office of the results. If the Co-Director of Human Resources determines there is insufficient cause for further examination, the new employee (or volunteer) will be considered to have satisfied the screening requirements outlined in Section E.
If the Co-Director of Human Resources determines that any of the new employee’s (or volunteer’s) verifications or checks should receive further scrutiny, the following steps will take place:
- The Co-Director of Human Resources will engage in a conversation with the Hiring Manager.The Co-Director will share all information received from the background check with the Hiring Manager.The Co-Director of Human Resources, after consultation with the Hiring Manager, will determine whether the information obtained as part of the background screening process makes the new employee unsuitable for employment with the College (or in the case of a volunteer, whether or not the volunteer can continue serving on our campus).
Guidelines: The existence of a criminal conviction does not automatically disqualify an individual from employment or volunteer work. Relevant considerations may include, but are not limited to: the individual’s age at the time of the offense; the nature and seriousness of the offense; the amount of time that has elapsed since the offense; any information provided by the individual regarding his/her rehabilitation or good conduct; the duties and responsibilities of the position sought or held by the individual, and the effect of the conviction on the individual's ability to perform these duties. EEOC guidelines (http://www.eeoc.gov/laws/guidance/arrest_conviction.cfm) provide specific instructions about fair application of a criminal background check.
Within the confidential process of their decision making, the Co-Director of Human Resources and the Hiring Manager should explicitly determine that the criminal record is judged to be correct, that the elapsed time since the conviction is short enough that the crime is still relevant, that the nature and gravity of the offense make it relevant for employment purposes, that the crime did not involve exercise of free speech, and that disparate impact of the criminal justice system on minorities is not an issue in this case.
Any decision to accept or reject an employee is solely at the discretion of Gettysburg College. If the College decides to terminate an employee because of information received as part of the background screening process, the College will comply with the terms of the Fair Credit Reporting Act and send both a pre-adverse action letter and adverse action letter to the employee.Human Resources will coordinate the Fair Credit Reporting Act compliance process.
H. Offices Responsible for these Procedures
Human Resources
J. Review of the Program
The Human Resources Office will monitor this policy on a periodic basis for consistency. (All related information will be treated as confidential and protected as such.)