According to a survey by the SHRM, many employers care about an applicant’s criminal history even more than expected. While the discovery of an applicant’s past violent felony is the most influential factor in a hiring representative making a decision to NOT extend a job offer (96%), more than a quarter (26%) of surveyed organizations still considered non-violent misdemeanors as a “very influential” factor in the decision to NOT extend a job offer as well.
61% of organizations surveyed claimed that they conduct criminal background checks primarily “to ensure a safe work environment for their employees” and the second most common response was “to reduce legal liability for negligent hiring.” Despite these reasons, many employers still heavily reflect on the lesser, likely non-violent, criminal past of applicants.
To salt the wounds of any applicant with a wild youthful past, only 37% of responders considered “the age of the job candidate when the criminal activity occurred” as very influential in their decision-making process. The other 63% didn’t answer “very influential” on their survey, not considering the age one committed a crime as much as 37% of their fellow hiring representatives.
All applicants, especially those with substantial education and previous experience, should be looked at closely in the hiring process, despite what may appear on their record at first glance.
That is, it’s one thing to not extend a job offer to someone convicted numerous times of sexual harassment in recent years, but it’s quite another to decline an offer to someone with a single misdemeanor on their record from several years ago. Great HR professionals and business leaders recognize this and respond accordingly.