51% Of Employers Have Hired Applicant With Criminal Record

According to a new survey by Career Builder, 51% of employers have hired an applicant with a criminal history. Since more than 92 million individuals have a criminal history on file in state databases, according to the Justice Department?s Bureau of Justice Statistics, employers will have applicants that have a criminal past. The key for employers is to run a background check so that they know about any criminal past activities and can make an informed hiring decision. Having a past conviction should not be a bar to employment but employers have the right to know and then to consider factors such as time since the offense, the age of the offender at the time of offense, efforts at rehabilitation and if the criminal offense is relative to the job. A background check is just one tool employers should be using to make sure they hire the right person for the right job but it is a very important tool.

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Comment by Kathryn Carlson on October 29, 2012 at 7:10pm: Some industry associations such as retail or medical keep private databases that members can assess during hiring. The database provides additional information outside of the standard criminal history process. I don't know of such a database for auto dealerships but it might be an idea whose time as come.

Comment by Doug Davis on October 29, 2012 at 5:53pm: Kathryn, I don't care if they were to call it discrimination. I knew a store that had a registered sex offender. The man was found guilty of molesting two little girls. That should be a capital offense. There is no way I would have someone like that working in a dealership.

Comment by Doug Davis on October 29, 2012 at 5:33pm: Tom, I know what you are thinking. We have seen crooked Used Car Managers that get fired from one store and working in another, the next day;. They seem to always land faster than the honest ones. The only way you can motivate a thief is to be a better thief.

Comment by Kathryn Carlson on October 29, 2012 at 5:19pm: Tom makes a great point- I wish there was a "ethics" test. There certainly are some assesement programs that can screen out those employees most likely to steal or violate trust.

Comment by Big Tom LaPointe on October 29, 2012 at 5:12pm: I have seen stores hire plenty of staff members who may not have had a 'CONVICTION' record, but were known in local circles to have MAJOR ethical violations because the store thought they could help the bottom line. Not surprisingly, they 'didn't work out'.

Comment by Kathryn Carlson on October 25, 2012 at 1:40pm: A background check provides information to make an informed hiring decision. There certainly can be cases where having a certain type of criminal history will eliminate an applicant and Doug. The key is that there must be a legitimate business reason- which includes federal and states regulations- why the criminal offense precludes the hiring of the individual and the decision cannot be considered discrimination. For example certain types (not all) offenses would not allow an individual to obtain a sales license so they could not be employed as a salesperson. The individual however might be a great employee in another position. Having a good job description, a documented policy on background checking and following a defined and consistent hiring process will go a long way to ensuring the right person is hired for the right job and limiting a dealerships liability for both negligent hiring and discrimination claims.

Comment by Doug Davis on October 24, 2012 at 10:52pm: Years ago, I called on a Nissan dealer in New Orleans. In his office, he had a cartoon hanging behind his desk. It was a picture of a dealer reading an applicant's resume during an interview. The caption was, "how to you expect to sell cars, you don't have a single felony conviction?" I thought that it was funny but never understood why he would have it blown up, framed and hanging in his office.

I worked for Group 1. After, I had left, an employee asked me to get him placed in another store. I sent him to my friend that would have hired him on my recommendation. When they ran his background, they saw where he had been convicted and did time, for armed robbery. I lost track of him, until recently, when I heard that Group 1 had hired him back. That is not their policy, he just slipped through the cracks.

Patric, it does happen. I don't know of any manufacturer that will accept an owner or executive manager (article III), that has a felony conviction. I have seen dealers get felony convictions and were forced to sell. I have been in cities and States where you had to be licensed and bonded. That isn't going to happen with a felony conviction.

Comment by MANNY LUNA on October 24, 2012 at 12:56pm: Great Post Patric Timmermans, 2% of them make it to GMs and Owners.