Criminal background checks are used by employers to ensure accuracy of information provided by prospective employees. They are conducted through databases maintained by various agencies, and are required by law in some industries. Inaccuracies can occur due to differing state definitions of crimes. Employers who do not conduct background checks may be held liable for employee crimes.
A criminal background check is a research process to determine if an applicant has a criminal record. This is to ensure that the information provided by a prospective employee is accurate. Once a background check is conducted, employers have access to any pending or past criminal convictions of a prospective applicant. These records are located in databases maintained by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the state Department of Public Safety, or any other agency that deals with such information. If an employer discovers that an applicant has lied about their criminal history, the employer may refuse to hire the applicant or terminate the employment relationship if the person has already been employed.
Criminal background checks have become so common that anyone who wants to discover private information about another person can do so easily enough. A simple internet search yields an almost endless list of online companies that offer criminal background check services for a fee.
When an applicant consents to a background check, they must provide their legal name, any previous names, their Social Security number, their current address, and any previous addresses they used during their adult life. This will allow the employer to find out if an applicant has a criminal record, regardless of where the applicant has lived in the past. The downside to conducting a criminal background check is that some states differ on how they define what constitutes a crime. Some states may classify a felony as a misdemeanor while others may classify the same crime as a felony. It becomes more difficult to receive an accurate criminal background check if the applicant has lived in several states.
Despite the fact that most companies perform background checks on applicants, there are some industries where a background check is required by federal or state law. People who want to work with children, disabled or elderly people usually have to undergo criminal checks. Those who want to become police officers, firefighters, or correctional officers must also receive criminal background checks. Other people who submit to these investigations include anyone seeking to hold public office or prospective employees whose jobs involve access to sensitive or confidential information.
If an employer does not routinely conduct this type of investigation and an employee commits a crime that harms colleagues, customers or others, the company could be held liable. For this reason, most employers pay companies to research candidate histories. The high crime rate in modern society and the constant fear of terrorism have made criminal background checks an inevitable part of life.
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