Census Workers and the Background Checks

Two job applicants with minor criminal records have filed challenges in court with the Census Bureau and their pre-employment screening process.

They claim they were unfairly rejected because the could not provide court records surrounding their settled cases.

Records are no longer available for misdemeanor offenses committed long ago. The two African American men claim the screening process is racially charged as the majority of applicants with these types of offenses will be black, Latino, or Native American.

The Commerce Department, which oversees the Census Bureau, declined to comment, but their spokesperson, Nick Kimball did state that safety was the reason for the screening process:

"Americans must be confident that if they don't mail back their forms and a census taker must come to their door, we've taken steps to ensure their safety."

The Census Bureau is expected to hire more than 700,000 temporary employees and will use FBI fingerprint checks for the first time.

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Pennsylvania Schools Consider Pre-Employment Drug Tests

Only about 60 school districts in the state of Pennsylvania have standard pre-employment drug testing procedures. Drug testing is not required by state law, it is up to the individual school districts to decide whether or not to implement a drug testing program.

FBI fingerprinting and extensive background investigations are a given across the state. Holidaysburg is one district that does perform drug tests on all new applicants. They say they've never had somebody fail the test, but a fail would eliminate that applicant from hire.

The district pays for the drugs tests with their own money and says that they test for the safety of their students. Employees are required to agree to a drug free policy to be good role models for the students.

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