There appears to be a growing number of city and county governments passing legislation that would prevent local employers from asking job seekers about previous criminal convictions on their job applications. Traditionally, employers have included a question on job applications asking if the applicant has ever been convicted of a crime other than minor traffic violations. Applicants who responded affirmatively that they had were often immediately eliminated from any further consideration for employment.
While checking criminal history remains an important part of any employment background check, asking about previous convictions on job applications may become a thing of the past. Nothing will prevent employers from conducting thorough background checks, including a criminal history check, as long as they comply with the provisions of the Fair Credit Reporting Act. Rather than running the risk of unintentionally violating some part of the FCRA, however, it makes sense to use a professional pre-employment screening firm like Barada Associates to handle background screening.