A:  Yes. The FCRA (Fair Credit Reporting Act), Title 15, of the United States Code, Section 1681 et seq, to include the amendments contained in the Consumer Credit Reporting Reform Act (CCRRA) of 1996 effective September 30, 1997, provides the framework for the accumulation and dissemination of employment-related information for employment purposes. Therefore, under the act, NRMA is defined as a “consumer reporting agency” or CRA. As such, NRMA must adhere to certain statutorily prescribed procedural standards. The FCRA requires that every consumer-reporting agency adopt “reasonable procedures” to reduce the risk of error and to assure that the reports which it issues are used for a proper purpose. The FCRA also requires each consumer-reporting agency to establish standards and procedures that assure all consumers of the right to request that any incorrect or inaccurate reports be promptly corrected or clarified. As an example –

Should an employer deny employment based on the results that were provided to them by NRMA, a copy of the report in question and a copy of the consumer’s rights under the FCRA must be provided to an applicant for hire along with notification that adverse action may be taken – based in whole or in part on information contained within the NRMA consumer report. The applicant is then given a reasonable period of time to dispute the findings of the report with the Consumer Reporting Agency. After this “reasonable” amount of time has passed, a second letter should be sent to the applicant explaining to them that they are not eligible for hire based upon the information provided to the employer by the Consumer Reporting Agency. This is commonly referred to as the Adverse Action process.

A:  NRMA has adopted exacting and uniform standards for the verification of the accuracy of every case history report before an adverse action can be issued. In addition, no case history report is released unless and until the employer that originally supplied the information verifies its accuracy and authorizes its release.

Every adverse NRMA report that is issued must be based on one of the following:

• Signed admission statement
• Signed restitution agreement
• Fully satisfied civil demand
• Criminal prosecution which has resulted in a conviction
• A similar documentary evidence which demonstrates that the theft or dishonesty actually occurred and that the person named in the inquiry is the person who committed the act.

Adverse NRMA reports are not based on subjective or uncorroborated information, nor are they issued on the basis of information which State law prohibits (e.g. arrest without a conviction, or prosecutions that result in a dismissal of charges following a period of supervision).

Every adverse verified NRMA report that is issued by NRMA is forwarded to the inquiring employer. Should the employer choose to take adverse action in whole or in part based on the report provided by NRMA, a copy of the report must be provided to the person who is the subject of the report.

Along with the copy of the consumer report, the person who is the subject of the report must also receive a FCRA Summary of Rights, so that the consumer may review the report information in question and – if needed – request the correction or deletion of any inaccuracies. As part of the Adverse Action documentation, the consumer is given an address and a toll-free telephone number so that he or she may call or write to challenge the validity or accuracy of any such report. Every such request is fully and promptly reinvestigated at no additional charge to any party and written responses forwarded to all parties.

A: There is no more liability associated with a verified NRMA theft incident report than there is with any pre-employment background report used in connection with hiring decisions today. FCRA regulations provide for the protection of the consumer, the furnisher of the data and the consumer reporting agency. For defamation to have occurred, a report must be false and attributable to negligence with malicious intent on the part of the furnisher or the consumer reporting agency.

  A: NRMA does not report solely on individuals ‘arrested’ for theft. If a specific case has been referred for criminal prosecution, it may be reported to NRMA provided a signed admission or restitution statement has been secured, and in many states, this information may be used while the case is ‘pending.’

A: No. Legislation does not restrict the use of signed admission statements in making hiring decisions. For that reason, a signed admission statement can be used solely as a basis for hiring.

A: 

• Each individual being considered for employment, promotion, reassignment, or retention must be given a statement in a document consisting solely of the disclosure indicating that a background report will be requested. This is commonly referred to as a consumer notification form. 
• A separate stand-alone release is required for any report requested for employment purposes {pre-employment, promotions, reassignment or retention, as well as updates of background checks}. This is commonly referred to a consumer authorization form.
• If the user believes that they may make an adverse decision based in whole or part due to the information contained in the background report, they are required to provide a copy of the consumer report (the actual background report that was furnished to you) to the Candidate, an adverse action notice and a copy of the Summary of Your Rights Under the FCRA.
• When the decision is final not to hire, based in whole or part due to the information contained in the report, the user of the information is required to provide oral, written or electronic notice of the adverse action to the consumer.  This must include a statement that the consumer reporting agency did not make the decision to take adverse action and is unable to provide a reason why the adverse action was taken.  Additionally, this notice must include the consumer reporting agency’s name, address and toll-free telephone number and notification about the consumer’s right to obtain a free copy within 60 days, along with their right to dispute the accuracy or completeness of any information contained in the consumer report.
• Users must agree that NRMA reports will be used solely for the purpose of employment screening.
• Users must certify to GIS/NRMA that they agree to comply with these responsibilities.

A:  NRMA may furnish a consumer report for employment purposes only if the user of such report certifies that they will comply with the above-mentioned responsibilities. Additional responsibilities of NRMA and GIS include:

• Upon a consumer’s request, NRMA must clearly and accurately disclose to the consumer all information that we have on file.
• NRMA must provide the consumer with the identification of each person that procured a report within the last two years.
• NRMA must provide the consumer the statutory prescribed notice summarizing all the rights the consumer has under the FCRA.
• NRMA must provide a toll free telephone number at which GIS personnel are accessible during normal business hours.
• NRMA must follow the prescribed process for conducting a reinvestigation of any information disputed by the consumer.

A:  Yes. Under the FCRA, NRMA reports can be used with respect to existing employees if the following conditions exist:

• A notice to the employee has been given (Consumer Notification Form)
• The Employee’s written consent has been obtained (Consumer Authorization Form)
• The Employer complies with the other requirements of the FCRA.

A:  Incidents can be submitted various ways. 

• A GIS web-link with a User Name and Password can be provided to the user and live data is immediately in the NRMA database
• Automated electronic batches can be sent and picked up by GIS.
• Incidents can be faxed, mailed, emailed for data entry to be completed on the GIS end.
• Various retail and retail loss prevention software management companies can be set up for extraction of the client’s data to the NRMA system electronically.
• A secure ftp site also can be provided for a NRMA user.
• Excel formatted spreadsheets with incidents are accepted.

A:  NRMA only reports incidents that have occurred within the last 7 years of the report date. All reports are accessible in real-time online for viewing the most recent 7 year period.

A:  No, the NRMA Retail Advisory Board unanimously voted to not include incidents in which the person was under the age of 18 when the theft incident occurred

A: NRMA is limited to incidents involving theft of merchandise, cash, or company property. Employees terminated for non-fraudulent reasons or terminated for violation of company policy not related to theft are not accepted for inclusion with NRMA data.

A: Employees and shoplifters who sign an admission statement may be reported, whether the matter was referred for criminal prosecution or not. If no admission statement was obtained, then the incident must be referred for criminal prosecution (police case number assigned) before it may be submitted to NRMA.

A:  Yes, member retailers have the right to delete or modify incidents they have previously submitted.

A:  GIS makes it easy to order reports on NRMA. NRMA members have the option of ordering their reports through an online real-time ordering platform called eQuest+. Negative results are instantly returned on NRMA searches so that hiring decisions can be made as quick as possible.

Other options for ordering reports are via batch interface, fax, IVR or via a live operator.

A:  All potential NRMA “hits” are verified prior to being returned to the requesting retail member. The NRMA operations team sends a verification form to the submitting member retailer that needs to be filled out and signed prior to moving forward with a confirmed “hit.” Submitting member retailers are asked to verify the subjects name, date of birth, social security number, type of incident, incident type, incident date, incident value and incident description prior to sending back to the NRMA operations team. Submitting member retailers are also asked to denote whether they have any of the following on record:

• Signed admission statement
• Signed restitution
  
• Restitution payments have been made
  
• Prosecution with a conviction on record
  
• Other Substantiating evidence