A 2010 survey carried out by the Society of Human Resource Management revealed that 92% of responding employers conducted criminal record checks on at least some job candidates and 73% said that they conducted criminal record checks on all job candidate. While some employers disqualify applicants and employees only for certain offences, many just simply refuse to consider an applicant for the mere fact that they have a criminal record. The practice of rejecting job candidates because they have criminal records rises to discrimination as it contains job opportunities for millions of people. The National Employment Law Project estimated 65 million adults in the United States have criminal records; which is a ratio of about 1 in 4.

One of the most common reasons why employers conduct criminal background checks and exclude applicants with certain types of convictions is a prudent way to promote workplace security and safety, protect company property and protect vulnerable populations from abuse and predatory behavior. In many cases it helps employers to avoid the liability for harm to customers and other third parties. One article states with regards to the failure to conduct background checks, “some states allow lawsuits for negligent hiring against employers that hire employees they should have known would engage in violent or dangerous behavior that injures others.”

That being said, it does not justify disqualifying anyone who has ever had a brush with the criminal justice system. There are a number of occasions where an individual is arrested erroneously, as a result of discrimination or worse circumstances. In some instances a decade-old conviction for drug possession, disturbing the peace or resisting arrest may be nothing more than youthful indiscretions and may have no relation whatsoever about an applicant’s ability to carry out or undertake a specific job today.

It is important to note that there are problems that arise with criminal background checks. In fact not everyone that is turned down for a job based on a criminal record actually has a criminal record. It is not uncommon for a criminal background check to result in incomplete or inaccurate information. A survey carried out by the National Consumer Law Center reported seeing the following mistakes repeatedly:

• Reports that are mismatched, that is that the report contained information about a different person
• Reports that include expunged or sealed records
• Incomplete reports - reports that do not include data about the ultimate disposition of the matter, for example that the charges were dropped or the person was exonerated
• Reports that provide information in a misleading way, for example, listing one offence a number of times, and
• Reports that misclassify the offence committed

Other factors that must be taken into account are that arrest and conviction rates also vary in accordance to race. Data provided by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission shows that arrest rates for African-Americans and Latinos are two to three times higher than the proportion of the population.

By excluding anyone with an arrest or criminal record could lead to a significant number of African-American and Latino candidates being excluded. For employment background check in California  contact a law firm handling such matters.