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Texas Brings Some Relief to the Employment Negligence Laws

Most people believe in giving people second chances.  Most employers we talk to believe the same and tend to comply with the EEOC guidelines for hiring someone with a criminal past.   As several employers in the energy field mentioned to me, “we are in such need of workers, I can’t let a little thing like a criminal conviction get in the way.  Provided they are up front about their crimes and that they have been behaving themselves.”   That seems to be the common refrain.

The Great State of Texas just made it a tad easier for employers to give job applicants with convicted criminal histories a second chance.  They have relaxed the employment negligence laws, taking some of the onus off of the employer who after hiring a convicted criminal finds that same criminal acting out on the job.   If there are instances of violence or harassment, other stuff, this can lead to charges of employment negligence.  This is where the employer hired the wrong guy who did some damage.  The employer is now open to liability claims.  Many of us know this as no good deed goes unpunished.

Fisher  & Phillips, one of the premiere employment law firms just put out a release announcing the new Texas Law.  Here are Some of the excerpts–

please click  on this link for the full article …

“Employers seem to be caught in an impossible catch-22 these days: run a background check on a job candidate and risk a potential discrimination lawsuit or forego this procedure and risk exposing the company to potential liability for negligent hiring or supervision. This is the position that the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission seems to be putting employers in by its aggressive interpretation of Title VII as prohibiting blanket rules against hiring applicants with criminal backgrounds.

The Texas Legislature has taken an important step to help protect employers who are willing to give applicants with a criminal record a second chance. House Bill 1188, which takes effect Sept. 1, 2013, will limit the liability of employers who hire applicants with a criminal record. The new law provides that a “cause of action may not be brought against an employer, general contractor, premises owner, or other third party solely for negligently hiring or failing to adequately supervise an employee, based on evidence that the employee has been convicted of an offense.

HB 1188 will benefit both employers and those with criminal records who are seeking employment, who often have difficulty finding a job. According to the National Institute of Corrections, about 5 million Texas adults have criminal records and hundreds of thousands of Texans who are no longer on probation or parole have felony convictions on their records. As inmates leave prison and try to gain self-sufficiency, they are often met with resistance by employers who are concerned that hiring ex-offenders may expose them to liability. “

By Gordon Basichis

Gordon Basichis is the Co-Founder of Corra Group, specializing in pre-employment background checks and corporate research. He has been a marketing and media executive and has worked in the entertainment industry, the financial, health care and technology sectors. He is the author of the best selling Beautiful Bad Girl, The Vicki Morgan Story, a non-fiction novel that helped define exotic sexuality in the late twentieth century. He is the author of the Constant Travellers and has recently completed a new book, The Guys Who Spied for China, dealing with Chinese Espionage in the United States. He has been a journalist for several newspapers and is a screenwriter and producer.

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