May

"On December 2, 2013, the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania ruled that a combined disclosure and authorization form that contained a liability waiver which the employer gave to a group of former job applicants violates the Fair Credit Reporting Act (the ""FCRA."")

The court determined that a significant portion of the 1,800 individuals in this class action are entitled to willful damages under the FCRA and could each receive the greater of his|her actual damages or $1,000 plus attorneys' fees. This is a second published decision to hold that liability waivers invalidate the disclosure requirements under the FCRA.

The first ruling rendered in January 2012 in the U.S. District Court in Maryland found that "both the statutory text and FTC advisory opinions indicate that an employer violates the FCRA by including a liability release in a disclosure document." Thus far, only the U.S. District Court for the Western District of North Carolina disagreed, deciding in August 2012 that the liability waiver included in the defendant employer's combined disclosure and authorization form was kept sufficiently distinct from the disclosure language so as not to render it ineffective."

The effects of a new rule placed by the Canadian government institution are beginning to come to the surface, especially now that Canada's Post Corp., its main postal service provider has changed its policy to match it. Its 71,000 employees will have to adhere to the new policy, which required background checks for mid-employment positions.

Its main opposition comes from the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW), who are opposed to the new policy for several reasons, including the vague requirements outlines, the lack of disclosure about the purpose and scope and the risk of discrimination. The Canadian Human Rights Commission assures employees that asking a current employee to sign a consent form for background checks is in no way a violation of their human rights.

"On February 19, 2014, the Ontario government introduced Bill 161, the Ontario Immigration Act, 2014, proposed legislation that would, if passed, create a new framework for the recruitment, selection and admission of skilled workers in the province, and establish a significant inspection, investigation and enforcement regime. Among other matters, Bill 161 provides for the establishment by regulation of an ""employer registry"" and a ""recruiter registry"", to identify employers eligible to make offers of employment to selected foreign nationals, and individuals authorized to provide certain selection program services. In addition, the proposed legislation would: empower the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration (Minister) to make orders establishing settlement and integration programs for immigrants or other specified individuals, permit the Minister to appoint broadly empowered inspectors to conduct inspections without a warrant or court order, and investigators to conduct investigations with a warrant, establish significant administrative penalties of up to $150,000 for each contravention on which the order for the penalty is based, establish offences for the contravention of specific provisions of the Act or regulations, subject to a fine of up to $250,000 and|or imprisonment, etc."