Given the plethora of recent changes in the employment law landscape, employers probably made reviewing compliance checklists a New Year’s resolution for 2013. From hiring employees, to training them, to auditing existing employment practices, the old adage, “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure,” certainly applies to updating your compliance checklists. Below, we identify a few (but certainly not all) reasons employers may wish to focus on this task.

The Employment Hiring Process:

Reference and Background Checks -

Employers must be mindful to comply with federal laws, like the Fair Credit Reporting Act and state counterparts, when trying to find employees who are free from financial problems. These statutes typically allow for civil relief in certain circumstances and liability for noncompliance. With respect to criminal records, the Department of Labor (DOL) issued new rules for the use of background checks in the hiring process, including certain prohibitions against using arrest information. Reviewing current pre-hiring policies for compliance with these new rules can help ensure a successful year.