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April 3, 2011

Criminal background checks: By the numbers

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By Randy Woods
NWjobs

Last week's latest job figures showing an overall increase of 216,000 jobs last month and a four-year low (8.8 percent) for the nation's unemployment rate was undeniably terrific news for job seekers. This is some of the strongest evidence since the Great Recession began that companies are looking to bulk up their payrolls in anticipation of a stronger economy this year.

Despite the positive indicators, there are some sectors of the unemployed community that have seen little consolation on the job market over the last few years: those who have had run-ins with the law. It's bad enough that competition for the few available jobs will remain fierce for everyone in this slowly healing economy; for those qualified applicants with even minor criminal offenses on their records, the struggle is even harder.

However, according to a recent poll conducted by the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), which represents 255,000 human resources professionals worldwide, a criminal conviction may not be quite the albatross around job seekers' necks that it is perceived to be.

First of all, SHRM reminds us, job applicants with criminal records are protected under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits unlawful discrimination in the hiring process. In addition, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) also has established guidelines stating that any hiring decisions based on criminal background checks must consider the severity of the crime, the number of convictions, the length of time since the crime was committed and the relevance of the offense to the position being offered. In most cases, background checks only look back about seven to 10 years, so a youthful indiscretion should not haunt you the rest of your working life.

Of course, there are guidelines and then there is reality. Are hiring managers, who are looking for any reason to weed out the mountains of applications they receive each day, really giving a fair chance to job seekers with criminal records? SHRM says, in general, yes they are.

In its latest poll results, released in January, SHRM found that a majority of responding employers were "thoughtful in the hiring process and do not take a one-size-fits-all approach to criminal background checks." Here are some other highlights from the SHRM poll:

• When making a hiring decision, HR professionals take into consideration the severity of the criminal activity (97 percent of respondents), number of convictions (95 percent), relevance to the position (93 percent) and length of time since the criminal activity (95 percent).


• When adverse information is found, 63 percent of organizations offer the candidate an opportunity to explain the circumstances before the decision to hire or not to hire is made.


• Checks are most commonly conducted for job candidates with fiduciary and financial responsibility (78 percent of organizations), candidates who will have access to highly confidential employee information (68 percent) and senior executive positions (55 percent).


• Criminal background checks are used on all job candidates by 73 percent of organizations. Nineteen percent of organizations conduct criminal background checks on selected job candidates.


• SHRM research also showed that the use of background criminal checks has not significantly increased between 2006 and 2010.

These figures should bring hope to job seekers with records, but let's not get too carried away. This doesn't mean you can knock over the corner grocery store tomorrow and still expect a job interview the following day. But it does at least indicate that most of the employers out there are willing to give a fair shake to those who've repaid their debts to society.

Randy Woods writes about job-search tools, networking techniques and other tips to help you land your dream job.

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