This is an honest to goodness, real-life “damned if you do; damned if you don’t” scenario. Conducting criminal checks for potential and current employees, or not doing so, is a predicament. The Society of Human Resource Management’s 2012 study gives us the “damned if you don’t” part, with approximately 70 percent of employers conducting criminal history checks: 36 percent to eliminate future criminal activity in the workplace; 49 percent to create a safer workplace; and 55 percent to reduce the risk of negligent hiring claims. But the “damned if you do” is significant, as criminal records checks come with increased employment discrimination litigation and investigations.
With this developing legal landscape, employers are challenged to negotiate the hurdles. The solution is not simple: employers must first understand the landscape of criminal background checks, and then must apply the legal framework to draft acceptable policies. Simple? Not exactly.
