Report: 69% of companies run criminal background checks

August 1, 2012

Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), nearly seven out of ten organizations – 69 percent – conduct criminal background checks on all of their job candidates, while 18 percent conduct criminal checks on select job candidates and 14 percent do not conduct criminal checks on any job candidates. The survey, ‘Background Checking—The Use of Criminal Background Checks in Hiring Decisions’ was conducted between December 2011 and February 2012 and consisted of a sample composed of 544 randomly selected HR professionals from SHRM’s membership. Other key findings include:

  • Among those that conduct criminal background checks, 62 percent initiate criminal background checks after a contingent job offer and 32 percent initiate them after the a job interview.
  • Only 4 percent of organizations initiate criminal background checks before a job interview.
  • 52 percent of organizations conduct criminal background checks on job candidates to reduce legal liability for negligent hiring while 49 percent conducted them to ensure a safe work environment for employees.
  • 96 percent of organizations say that they are influenced not to hire convicted violent felons while 74 percent say they are influenced by non-violent felony convictions.
  • 69 percent of organizations conduct criminal background checks on job candidates for positions with fiduciary and financial responsibilities and 66 percent conduct them on job candidates who will have access to highly confidential employee information.
  • 58 percent of organizations allow job candidates to explain the results of their criminal background checks before the decision to hire or not to hire is made while 27 percent allow job candidates to explain the results after the decision is made.
These results are significant when compared to the 2010 survey, which claimed that 73% of organizations ran criminal background checks and only 7% abstained from the process. One consideration for this change is companies looking to save costs while hiring. We would like to highlight that whatever the cost of employment screening, it is more than worth it when considering the potential risks of not performing such checks – such as bad hires, lack of productivity and potential for future lawsuits. For more information on why background checks are important, and how to get started, get in touch!
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