The Exception as the Rule: Negligent Hiring Liability, Structured Uncertainty, and the Rise of Criminal Background Checks in the United States
The human resources department of businesses have adopted criminal background checks as a tool for screening job applicants even though U.S. law does not require it. An employer can be punished if an employee commits harm while on the job and the hiring process didn’t show “reasonable care” toward the employee’s potential for harm. Because it’s unclear what “reasonable care” means, HR departments often turn to criminal background checks as a cheap and easy method for avoiding legal responsibility..
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