The Criminal Background Check and Hiring Decisions
If your company is like most others, there is some type of criminal background check done on all applicants for employment or newly hired people. What employers do once the arrest and/or conviction information is received on a candidate can be very different.
Some companies have very strict guidelines on hiring parameters, excluding candidates who have any criminal history at all, while others are willing to take a chance on hiring someone with a record based on a number of factors such as age at the time of the offense, seriousness of the crime, or time since the crime was committed. Still other companies use the criminal background check only as part of a comprehensive pre employment screening program and consider many other variables, like education, employment record, or personal references as mitigating factors for someone with a criminal history.
To be fair across the board, a company should define requirements and qualifications for each position in the company. These do not necessarily have to be the same for each position. A company might reject an applicant for an accounting position who has a record for embezzlement, but hire a driver who has written bad checks. Categories of the crime for which the candidate was convicted may be a factor as well. Felons might be excluded while misdemeanor convictions are accepted, or an applicant might be disqualified for a conviction of a crime of violence, like assault or battery.
The important thing to remember is that the qualifications should be written down as policy, and applied fairly and consistently across the board. A labor attorney or background check experts can help with this.
An employer has the right to conduct a criminal background check on employees and new hires within certain bounds, and can use this decision tool effectively.
For more information on the criminal background check, call 770-426-0547 or click here: Background Check Experts
