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Criminal History Checks And Employees' Rights

  • Published: June 21, 2021
An applicant for employment may be asked to submit to a criminal background check prior to beginning work. However, there are restrictions regarding when the background check can be run and what can be looked at.
Employers often include a box on a job application that asks applicants to check the box if they were ever convicted of a felony, misdemeanor, or other crime. But on January 1, 2018, California passed legislation – known as the “ban the box” law – requiring employers to remove this box. Specifically, employers can no longer require employees to disclose criminal histories or to check their criminal histories, until after a conditional offer of employment has been made.
Your employer may only perform a background check into the previous seven years.

Aside from a criminal history extending past seven years, a criminal background check should exclude:

  • Sealed records;
  • Juvenile records;
  • Arrests that did not lead to conviction;
  • Non-felony marijuana convictions that are more than two years old; and
  • Participation in pre- or post-trial diversion programs.

The short answer is yes: your employer can withdraw your offer after checking your background check. But before doing so, an employer must, by law, do the following:

Perform an individualized assessment considering the nature and severity of the offense, the time of the offense, and whether it is relative to the type of job being applied for;

Notify the job applicant in writing with a copy of the obtained conviction record and the specific reasons why the conditional offer was revoked and a copy of the obtained;

Provide the applicant five (5) business days to respond to the notice to challenge the accuracy of the report or provide evidence that lessens the impact of the conviction;

Consider the applicant’s response and evidence submitted, if any;

Provide a final decision in writing to deny the applicant’s employment application that contains the following information: (1) any existing procedure the employer has for the applicant to challenge the decision or request consideration; and (2) the right to file a complaint with the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing (“DFEH”).

Unfortunately, despite the enactment of the Ban the Box Law, many California employers still routinely ask about criminal backgrounds and/or run criminal background checks prior to employment. In such cases, an employee may bring a lawsuit for discrimination based on the criminal conviction and seek as compensation, among other things, the financial harm they suffered from not being hired, as well as their attorneys’ fees and costs required to bring the lawsuit.

If you believe you may have experienced any discrimination due to past criminal history, contact us at 310-438-5555 to determine what your options may be.

Acuerdos de Arbitraje y Sus Derechos Como Empleado

Se le puede pedir a un solicitante de empleo que se someta a una verificación de antecedentes penales antes de comenzar a trabajar. Sin embargo, hay restricciones con respecto a cuándo se puede ejecutar la verificación de antecedentes y qué se puede ver.
Los empleadores a menudo incluyen una caja en la solicitud de empleo que les pide a los solicitantes que marquen la caja si alguna vez fueron condenados o una felonía, delito menor u otro delito. Pero el 1 de enero de 2018, California aprobó una legislación, conocida como la ley de “prohibir la caja”, requiriendo que los empleadores eliminen esta caja. Específicamente, los empleadores ya no pueden exigir a los empleados que revelen antecedentes penales, o que verifiquen sus antecedentes penales, hasta después de que se haya hecho una oferta condicional de empleo.
Su empleador solo puede realizar una verificación de antecedentes en los siete años anteriores.

Aparte de un historial criminal que se extiende más allá de siete años, una verificación de antecedentes penales debe excluir:

  • Registros sellados;
  • Registros de menores;
  • Arrestos que no dieron lugar a condena;
  • Condenas por delitos no graves de marihuana que tienen más de dos años de antigüedad; yd
  • Participación en programas de desvió antes o después del juicio.

La respuesta corta es sí: su empleador puede retirar su oferta después de verificar su verificación de antecedentes. Pero antes de hacerlo, un empleador debe, por ley, hacer lo siguiente:

Realizar una evaluación individualizada considerando la naturaleza y la gravedad de la ofensa, el momento de la ofensa y si es relativa al tipo de trabajo que se solicita;

Notificar al solicitante de empleo por escrito con una copia del expediente de condena obtenido y las razones específicas por las que se revocó la oferta condicional y una copia de la obtenida;

Proporcionar al solicitante cinco (5) días de negocio para responder a la notificación para impugnar la exactitud del informe o proporcionar evidencia que disminuya el impacto de la condena;

Considerar la respuesta del solicitante y las pruebas presentadas, si las hubiera;

Proporcionar una decisión final por escrito para denegar la solicitud de empleo del solicitante que contenga la siguiente información: (1) cualquier procedimiento existente que el empleador tenga para que el solicitante recuse la decisión o solicite consideración; y (2) el derecho a presentar una queja ante el Departamento de Empleo Justo y Vivienda de California (“DFEH”).

Desafortunadamente, a pesar de la promulgación de la Ley de Prohibición de la Caja, muchos empleadores de California todavía preguntan rutinariamente sobre antecedentes criminales y / o realizan verificaciones de antecedentes penales antes del empleo. En tales casos, un empleado puede presentar una demanda por discriminación basada en la condena penal y buscar como compensación, entre otras cosas, el daño financiero que sufrió al no ser contratado, así como los honorarios y costos de sus abogados requeridos para presentar la demanda.

Si cree que puede haber experimentado alguna discriminación debido a antecedentes penales,comuníquese con Bibiyan Law Group, P.C. al 310-438-5555 para determinar qué opciones pueden estar disponibles.

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