Originally published in Law360, New York (April 04, 2012, 6:24 PM ET)

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce in a letter released Tuesday urged the Office of Management and Budget to require the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to seek public comment before issuing new guidance on employer use of criminal convictions or credit history.

The lobbying group claims that the EEOC is planning to issue two guidance documents concerning the interaction of disparate impact under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and employer use of information obtained during applicant and employee background checks. One document will relate to credit history information, and the other will discuss criminal history, the Chamber said in a letter to Cass Sunstein, the administrator of the OMB's Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs.

“By all accounts, the EEOC is now preparing to approve these significant guidance documents without making them available for public comments and without seeking review by the OMB,” the letter said.