Employment Background Check Errors: Protect Your Career

You applied for a job and received an offer. Or you were already employed and up for a promotion. Then a background check changed everything. The offer was rescinded. The promotion disappeared. You were terminated. And the reason pointed to information in a background check that was wrong.

Employment background check errors are among the most consequential types of screening mistakes because they directly affect your ability to earn a living. The screening companies that produce these reports, including Checkr, HireRight, First Advantage, and Sterling, are consumer reporting agencies under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) and have legal obligations to you. For a general overview of how background check errors happen, what these companies are, and the full FCRA framework that governs them, see our background check errors page.

This page focuses on what makes employment background check errors different: the specific ways they affect your career, the obligations your employer must follow before acting on a report, the damages you may be entitled to recover, and the state-level protections that apply in the employment context.

How Employment Background Check Errors Affect Your Career

The types of errors that appear on employment background checks are the same ones that affect all screening reports: mismatched identities, outdated or sealed records that should no longer appear, misclassified offenses, and unreliable data sources. Our background check errors hub explains each of these in detail.

What makes the employment context different is the stakes and the speed. A study by First Advantage, itself one of the largest screening companies, found that 61% of background checks contained at least one discrepancy, with 87% of those discrepancies occurring in employment and education verification records. When those errors appear on an employment background check, the consequences are immediate and concrete. Here are some examples of how a background check containing erroneous information might impact a consumer:

A rescinded job offer. You went through the interview process, received an offer, and may have already given notice at your current job. Then a company such as Checkr or HireRight provides your potential employer with a report that attributes someone else’s criminal record to you, or reports a dismissed charge as a conviction, and the offer disappears. You are now unemployed, with no recourse from the employer and no explanation beyond a form letter.

A lost promotion or termination. You are already employed and performing well. Your employer runs a periodic background check, or a check is triggered by a promotion or transfer. But a report from First Advantage, Sterling, or a company providing similar services includes outdated information, a sealed record that should not appear, or employment history errors that make it look like you misrepresented your qualifications. Instead of a promotion, you are terminated.

Employment and education verification failures. The screening company reports the wrong job title, incorrect dates of employment, an omitted position, or errors in your degree or institution records. These errors can make it appear that you lied on your resume when you did not. Unlike criminal record errors, verification errors are often the result of the screening company relying on third-party databases rather than contacting your actual former employers or schools.

Identity theft showing up on your report. Someone used your personal information to commit crimes or engage in other activity, and the resulting records now appear on your employment background check. The screening company reports what it finds in its databases without verifying whether the records actually belong to you. If you are an identity theft victim whose credit report has also been affected, our free guide, Fighting Back: A Consumer’s Guide to Identity Theft, explains the steps you can take to protect yourself.

What Your Employer Is Required to Do Before Acting on a Background Check

The FCRA does not just regulate the screening companies. It also imposes specific requirements on employers who use background checks for employment decisions. Each of these requirements represents a potential violation point, and employers who fail to follow them have violated the FCRA regardless of whether the report itself contained errors.

Disclosure and authorization. Before an employer can request a background check on you, it must provide a clear, stand-alone written disclosure that a consumer report will be obtained, and it must obtain your written authorization. Under FCRA § 1681b(b)(2), the disclosure must be in a separate document. It cannot be buried in a stack of onboarding paperwork or combined with other forms. If an employer pulled your background check without giving you this disclosure or obtaining your written consent, that is a violation of the FCRA.

Pre-adverse action notice. Before taking any adverse employment action based on a background check, the employer must send you a pre-adverse action notice along with a copy of the background check report and a summary of your rights under the FCRA. Under § 1681b(b)(3), this step is mandatory. The purpose is to give you the opportunity to review the report and identify any errors before the employer’s decision becomes final.

Reasonable waiting period. After sending the pre-adverse action notice, the employer must allow a reasonable period of time, generally at least five business days, for you to review the report and dispute any errors before making a final decision.

Final adverse action notice. If the employer still intends to take adverse action after the waiting period, it must send a final adverse action notice informing you of the decision and your right to dispute the information with the screening company.

In practice, many employers skip the pre-adverse action step entirely. They review the background check, make their decision, and inform the applicant after the fact, or not at all. Others send the notices but do not provide a meaningful opportunity to respond before acting. Each of these failures is an independent FCRA violation. For more on your rights in this situation, see our page on adverse action and denials. See also our article on what to do when you receive an adverse action notice.

Disputing Employment Background Check Errors

If your employment background check contains inaccurate information, you have the right to dispute the errors directly with the screening company. The FCRA requires the company to conduct a reasonable reinvestigation within 30 days. Our step-by-step guide to disputing credit report errors walks through the full process, and our background check errors hub explains how to obtain your report, file a written dispute by certified mail, and what to expect during the investigation.

But there is a hard reality specific to the employment context: by the time you learn about the error, the damage is often already done. The job offer has been rescinded. The promotion has gone to someone else. You have been terminated. A successful dispute may correct the report going forward, but it does not restore the opportunity you lost. And in many cases, the screening company “verifies” the inaccurate information by checking the same flawed database that produced the error in the first place.

That is why, for employment background check errors, the legal remedies available under the FCRA are often more important than the dispute process itself.

Damages You Can Recover in Employment Background Check Cases

The FCRA provides substantial legal remedies when a screening company or employer violates its obligations. In the employment context, these damages can be significant because the harm is tangible and well-documented.

Lost wages and benefits. This is often the largest component of damages in employment background check cases. It includes the salary you would have earned, health insurance you lost access to, retirement contributions, bonuses, and any other benefits tied to the position. If you lost an existing job rather than a prospective one, the calculation may also include the difference between what you were earning and what you were able to earn in a replacement position, as well as any period of unemployment.

Lost time and opportunity. The hours you spent obtaining court records to prove the information was wrong, writing dispute letters, making phone calls to court clerks and screening companies, and applying for replacement jobs. This is time you would not have had to spend but for the error, and it is compensable. If the error forced you to delay a career move, turn down other opportunities while you waited for a resolution, or spend weeks or months in uncertainty about your employment status, that lost time has real value.

Emotional distress. Being told you failed a background check when the information was wrong is a uniquely stressful experience. It calls your integrity into question with a potential or current employer, and it can leave you feeling helpless when the screening company treats you as a data point rather than a person. Courts have recognized emotional distress as a compensable category of actual damages in FCRA cases.

Statutory damages. For willful FCRA violations, the statute provides damages of $100 to $1,000 per violation even without proof of specific monetary harm. This is important in cases where the financial losses are difficult to quantify but the violation is clear.

Punitive damages. For willful violations, punitive damages are available with no statutory cap. These are designed to punish particularly egregious conduct and deter the screening company from repeating it.

Attorney’s fees and costs. The FCRA is a fee-shifting statute: if you prevail, the defendant pays your attorney’s fees and litigation costs. This is what makes it possible for consumers to bring these cases without paying anything upfront.

For a full overview of FCRA remedies, see our article on FCRA damages.

State-Specific Employment Protections

The FCRA is a federal statute, and Schlanger Law Group handles employment background check cases nationwide. But some states provide additional protections specifically for the employment context, and these protections can strengthen your position beyond what federal law alone provides.

New York offers several important layers of state-level protection for workers. Criminal Procedure Law § 160.59 prohibits background check companies from reporting sealed convictions, which means that if your conviction was sealed by a court, a screening company that reports it has violated state law. Executive Law Article 23-A requires employers to consider specific factors before denying employment based on a criminal record, including the relationship between the offense and the job, the time elapsed since the offense, the seriousness of the offense, evidence of rehabilitation, and the employer’s legitimate interest. A blanket policy of rejecting any applicant with a criminal record does not satisfy this requirement.

In New York City, the Fair Chance Act (commonly known as the city’s Ban-the-Box law) prohibits most employers from inquiring about criminal history until after a conditional offer of employment has been made. Employers who ask about criminal history on the initial application or during the interview process before extending an offer have violated city law.

New York has also enacted a new employment credit check ban (Senate Bill 3072, effective April 18, 2026), which prohibits most employers from requesting or using an applicant’s or employee’s consumer credit history when making employment decisions. The law includes narrow exceptions for certain positions in financial services, law enforcement, and roles involving significant fiduciary responsibility. For full details on the new law, its exceptions, and your rights, see our NY Employment Credit Check Ban FAQ.

Other states have enacted similar protections. The Ban-the-Box movement has spread to more than 37 states and 150 cities and counties, each with its own rules about when and how employers can consider criminal history. Clean Slate laws in a growing number of states provide for automatic sealing of certain criminal records after specified waiting periods. The FCRA provides the federal floor for all of these protections; state law may add to it.

How Schlanger Law Group Can Help

Schlanger Law Group has been litigating on behalf of consumers since 2007, and the FCRA is a core focus of our practice. Background check companies are consumer reporting agencies under the same federal statute we litigate every day on behalf of consumers dealing with credit reporting errors. The legal framework, the litigation strategies, and the defendants’ typical defenses are ones we know well.

While every case is different, we regularly achieve outstanding results for individual FCRA clients. For examples of our work, see our case results page.

We typically represent victims on a contingency fee basis, which means there is typically no cost to you upfront. The FCRA is a fee-shifting statute: if you prevail, the defendant pays your attorney’s fees and costs. If your case is not successful, you owe us nothing. For more on what to expect when you hire a credit reporting attorney, see our credit reporting attorney page.

Get a Free Case Review

Schlanger Law Group has been litigating on behalf of consumers since 2007, and FCRA claims are one of our core practice areas. We typically represent victims on a contingency fee basis and handle cases nationwide. If an inaccurate employment background check has cost you a job, a promotion, or your current position, or if an employer acted on your background check without following the required process, contact us today to discuss your options.

Frequently Asked Questions About Employment Background Check Errors

What shows up on an employment background check?

An employment background check may include criminal records, employment history, education verification, credit history, address history, and sex offender registry data. The specific contents depend on the type of check the employer requests and the screening company used to produce the report. In New York, most employers can no longer request or use credit history in employment decisions under the state’s new employment credit check ban. For an overview of background check errors generally, including common error types and how they happen, see our background check errors page.

My employer rescinded my job offer because of a background check. What are my options?

You may have legal claims against both the screening company and the employer. If the background check contained inaccurate information, the screening company may have failed to follow reasonable procedures for accuracy under the FCRA. If the employer rescinded the offer without first providing you with a pre-adverse action notice, a copy of the report, and a reasonable opportunity to respond, the employer has independently violated the FCRA. Both the screening company and the employer can be held liable. For more on what happens when an employer takes adverse action, see our page on adverse action and denials.

How do I dispute an employment background check error?

Request a copy of your report from the screening company that produced it. If you received an adverse action notice, it should identify the company. Review the report, identify every error, and send a written dispute by certified mail with copies of supporting documentation (court records, certificates of disposition, employment records). The screening company has 30 days to investigate. For a detailed walkthrough of the full dispute process, see our step-by-step dispute guide.

Can my employer run a background check without telling me?

No. Under the FCRA, an employer must provide you with a clear, stand-alone written disclosure that a background check will be obtained and must get your written authorization before the report is pulled. This disclosure cannot be combined with other documents or buried in application paperwork. If an employer ran a background check on you without providing this disclosure or obtaining your consent, that is a violation of the FCRA regardless of whether the report was accurate. You may have a legal claim for statutory damages, actual damages, and attorney’s fees.

What damages can I recover if I lost a job because of a wrong background check?

The FCRA provides for several categories of damages: lost wages and benefits (the income and benefits from the job you lost or did not get), lost time and opportunity (the time spent disputing errors, obtaining records, and applying for replacement positions), emotional distress, statutory damages of $100 to $1,000 per willful violation, punitive damages with no statutory cap for willful violations, and attorney’s fees and costs paid by the defendant. For a full breakdown, see our article on FCRA damages.