Criminal Background Checks for Employment [2026]

Criminal background checks are often part of the hiring process and may even be required for new hires if your company is in certain regulated industries or serves vulnerable populations, such as children, the elderly, or the disabled.

At iprospectcheck, we provide employers across various industries with accurate and compliant criminal background checks.

We put together this guide to serve as a resource in your hiring process.

What is a Criminal Background Check for Employment?

When CRAs conduct criminal background checks for employment, they gather and analyze background information from municipal, state, county, and federal criminal records databases for job applicants.

The types of information that might be reported include misdemeanor and felony convictions and pending criminal matters.

Different searches might produce different records.

For example, if an employer only searches a state’s criminal records repository, the employer will only receive information about any convictions and arrests that are contained in the state’s criminal justice system.

Employers might instead elect to complete nationwide searches to find criminal record information from multiple states or perform searches in every county and state where an applicant has lived.

Why You Should Screen Candidates?

There are many reasons why employers should always conduct criminal background checks on potential hires. These include:

1. Reduce Many Types of Risk

Screening your applicants for relevant criminal convictions helps to reduce your exposure to multiple types of risk.

A criminal background check for employment could help your company screen out applicants with convictions related to:

• Theft and embezzlement
• Crimes of violence
• Abuse of the elderly, children, or other vulnerable populations
• Sexual offenses
• Identity theft/fraud

This helps you avoid potentially substantial losses and harm to your company.

2. Maintain a Safe Work Environment for Employees and Customers

One of the duties employers have in the employer-employee relationship is to provide a reasonably safe work environment for employees.

They must also strive to keep the workplace safe for customers who visit the premises.

By conditioning employment offers on the results of a criminal background check, you can evaluate any convictions an applicant might have as they relate to the job.

If an applicant’s criminal record indicates they could pose a safety threat to your existing employees and customers, you can decline employment to protect workplace safety.

3. Protect Your Company’s Reputation and Assets

Damage to your company’s brand can seriously harm your business. Depending on your business model, your employees might be your company’s public-facing representatives.

If an employee engages in behavior that damages your reputation in the community, the results might include a substantial drop in customers and trouble recovering from the impact.

Similarly, hiring someone who steals from your company could cause significant losses.

According to the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners 2022 Report to the Nations, internal theft and fraud cases resulted in median losses of $177,000 and lasted an average of 12 months.

Few companies can absorb losses caused by reputational harm or internal thefts.

You can protect your company’s reputation and assets by conducting pre-employment criminal background checks to screen out people whose pasts indicate they can’t be trusted.

4. Minimize Liability Risks

If you fail to conduct criminal background checks, you could hire someone whose conviction record shows they could be unsafe.

If an employee with a problematic criminal history subsequently causes harm to others while working on the job, your company could be liable in a negligent hiring lawsuit.

Employers are vicariously liable for the negligent actions of their employees while they are working.

They can also have direct liability for the intentional actions of their employees, volunteers, and independent contractors when they negligently hire someone whose background check would have revealed they were unsafe.

Completing criminal background checks on all applicants allows you to filter out people with convictions indicating they could present significant liability risks for your company.

5. Comply With Regulatory Requirements

Employers operating within regulated industries might be required to conduct criminal background checks by law.

For example, companies regulated by the U.S. Department of Transportation must complete compliant pre-employment criminal background checks on people applying for safety-sensitive roles.

Similarly, employers hiring people to work with vulnerable populations might have to conduct thorough criminal background checks under state laws.

What Jobs Require You to Review Criminal History?

Employers should conduct criminal background checks on applicants for any job.

However, there are certain positions for which criminal background screens are particularly important, including:

• Positions in finance – Since employees working in finance, such as financial planners, have access to your clients’ financial information and money, it’s important to check for convictions indicating dishonesty, including theft, embezzlement, or fraud.
• Positions in healthcare – People working in healthcare provide services to patients in vulnerable states and also have access to controlled drugs, making it important to screen for criminal drug, assaults, and abuse convictions.
• Positions in K-12 education – If you’re hiring teachers, custodians, cafeteria staff, paraprofessionals, and others who will have direct contact with children in a K-12 school, you must carefully screen their criminal background for convictions related to child abuse, assaults, sex offenses, and other similar convictions.
• Positions caring for the elderly or disabled – Applicants for jobs in the caring professions should be carefully screened for criminal convictions related to patient abuse, crimes of violence, thefts, and others that could indicate they could threaten the safety of their patients.
• Positions in daycare facilities – Like K-12 schools, daycare operators must ensure their employees and volunteers have criminal records free from child abuse, crimes of violence, sexual offenses, and other similar convictions that could make them dangerous to children.
• Any jobs for which employees have access to sensitive customer information.

What Will the Report Show?

The types of information that might appear on a criminal background check for employment include misdemeanor convictions, felony convictions, pending charges, arrest warrants, probation violations, and incarceration records.

Arrests that are older than seven years that did not result in convictions will not be reported.

Some states allow defendants to ask for their criminal records to be sealed or expunged. Sealed or expunged records will not be reported in those jurisdictions, and it might be illegal for you to consider that type of information for employment purposes.

Legal infractions that only include citations and fines might not be considered to be crimes in some jurisdictions, so they might not appear on criminal history reports obtained from those databases.

When an applicant has a criminal record, you will see the following types of information:

• Date of offense
• Type of offense
• Severity (misdemeanor or felony)
• Disposition
• Date of disposition
• Sentence information

Criminal records checks might also include sex offender registry checks. This type of search checks sex offender registries in all states to see whether an applicant is a registered sex offender.

Some of the different types of databases that might be included in a criminal history check for employment from iprospectcheck include the following:

• State court records – Returns criminal court records within the state where the employer and applicant are located
• Nationwide private database searches for criminal records – Returns information about criminal records from any state
• Federal court records – Returns information about any federal court convictions and pending cases
• County court records – Returns criminal records from the counties in which the applicant has lived
• Sex offender registries – Returns information for applicants that are registered sex offenders in any jurisdiction

International Background Check

If your applicant lived or studied overseas, you should ask for an international background check in addition to a state and federal criminal background check.

What might appear on an international criminal background check can vary based on the country.

Some nations, such as Israel and Ireland, have strict data privacy laws and only allow criminal conviction information to be reported for a narrow list of jobs.

Other countries only report serious convictions that would be felonies if committed in the U.S.

Some countries will provide a certificate that includes more detailed information about an applicant’s conviction type, date of offense, and the sentence received.

An international background check might also include a global sanctions search. This will reveal the following types of information:

• Serious international crimes
• Narcotics trafficking
• Terrorism
• Major fraud and financial crimes
• Disciplinary sanctions
• Exclusions and debarments

Federal Criminal Background Check

A state and county criminal background check is not enough because they will not report information about convictions an applicant might have received in the federal court system.

Running a federal criminal records check will reveal whether an applicant has a federal conviction and the offense date, type, severity, disposition, and sentence if they do.

How to Get a Criminal Background Check

Option 1: Do-It-Yourself

Some employers attempt to gather criminal history information directly from government and court record systems. This process involves multiple agencies, identity verification, and legal compliance.

Step 1: Obtain Written Authorization

Before you access any records, make sure the applicant signs a written disclosure and authorization that allows you to run a criminal background check. Provide the applicant with any and all required disclosures.

The Fair Credit Reporting Act and many state and local laws require this step.

Step 2: Verify the Applicant’s Identity

You need the applicant’s full legal name, date of birth, and address history.

Step 3: Search County Criminal Court Records

Most criminal cases are filed in county courts. You’ll need to check court records in every county where your applicant has lived, worked, or attended school.

This often means searching individual court systems or contacting court clerks directly.

Step 4: Request State Criminal History Records

Many states maintain centralized criminal record repositories through their state police, department of justice, or similar agency. Using these record sources in addition to county/parish/borough records is valuable.

Step 5: Search Federal Criminal Records

Federal crimes don’t appear in state databases. To search for federal criminal cases, you’ll need to subscribe to PACER (Public Access to Court Electronic Records), the federal court record system.

Step 6: Apply Hiring Laws to the Results

You can’t legally use all criminal records in hiring. When you evaluate criminal history, you must follow FCRA requirements, EEOC guidance, and state and local laws.

Pros

• Low or no cost
• Direct access to official court and government records
• Control over what sources are searched and when

Cons

• Can be time-consuming to collect records from multiple courts and agencies
• Some information requires formal requests, identity verification, or fingerprints
• Certain criminal records can be difficult to interpret without legal or compliance guidance
• Results may not match the standardized, employer-ready reports used in professional screening

Best For

Small employers with limited budgets who are willing to invest the time and effort needed to gather records themselves.

Option 2: Run Professional Screening With iprospectcheck

Most employers use a professional screening provider, like iprospectcheck, to access authorized criminal record sources, verify results at the court level, and stay compliant with federal and state hiring laws.

Step 1: Obtain the Applicant’s Written Consent

Before you order a background check, give the applicant a standalone disclosure that explains the screening process.

Provide the applicant with all required documents based on the location of the job, the location of the applicant, the location of the hiring company, and federal requirements.

Then get their written authorization, as the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) requires this step.

Step 2: Receive a Criminal Report

You receive a clear, FCRA-compliant criminal background report that shows legally reportable convictions and case details in an easy-to-understand format that helps you make informed hiring decisions.

Pros

• Court criminal records from county, state, and federal sources
• FCRA and EEOC-compliant screening
• Reports prepared and reviewed by certified screening professionals
• Clear, easy-to-read criminal history summaries
• Secure data handling and privacy-protected digital delivery
• Faster turnaround with reduced compliance and legal risk

Cons

• Paid service

Best For

Employers who want fast, accurate, and compliant criminal background checks without having to track down records from multiple courts and agencies. Shares liability for compliance with experts who can guide your program and protect you from potential lawsuits.

Next Steps After Receiving the Report

Once a background check is complete, how you review and act on the results is just as important as how you obtained them.

1. Evaluate Records Based on the Job

Review criminal history in relation to the position’s actual duties. Only consider offenses relevant to the role, such as theft for retail jobs or financial crimes for accounting positions.

Federal and state laws require you to evaluate each record individually.

Look at the type of offense, when it occurred, and whether it directly connects to the job. You cannot automatically disqualify candidates based on any criminal record.

2. Keep the Applicant Informed

Maintain transparency throughout the process. Let applicants know when their background check is under review and whether you’re moving forward or need to discuss any findings.

3. Follow the FCRA Adverse Action Process if a Record Affects Hiring

If you decide not to hire a candidate based on their criminal background check, you must follow the Fair Credit Reporting Act adverse action process:

• Send a Pre-Adverse Action Notice: Give the applicant a copy of the background check report and explain which information raised concern. Include a copy of “A Summary of Your Rights Under the FCRA.”

• Allow Time to Respond: Give the applicant time to review the report and dispute or clarify any information that may be incorrect or incomplete.

• Send a Final Adverse Action Notice: If your decision doesn’t change after the response period, send a final adverse action notice along with a summary of the applicant’s FCRA rights.

These steps protect applicant rights and help keep your hiring process compliant, fair, and legally defensible.

Legal Requirements for Using Criminal History in Hiring

Fair Credit Reporting Act

The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) establishes federal requirements on how employers and third parties collect and use information on job candidates in a criminal background check.

For positions under $75,000 annually, you typically can’t report:

• Arrests over seven years old without convictions
• Paid tax liens, civil suits, or judgments
• Chapter 13 bankruptcies (Chapter 7 may show for 10 years)
• Collection accounts

Before running a background check, an employer must:

• Provide a clear, standalone written disclosure
  • Inform the applicant in writing that a background check may be obtained for employment purposes
  • The disclosure must be standalone (no liability waivers, no extra language, no state notices mixed in)
  • Even minor deviations have triggered class-action settlements

• Obtain the applicant’s written authorization
  • Authorization must be knowing and voluntary
  • Typically signed or electronically acknowledged
  • Cannot be bundled with unrelated consents

• Certify compliance to the Consumer Reporting Agency (CRA)

The employer must certify that it:

• • Has a permissible purpose
  • Provided proper disclosure and obtained authorization
  • Will follow pre-adverse and adverse action procedures
  • Will not use the report in violation of federal or state law

This certification is not optional.

• Ensure state and local law compliance

Before ordering the report, the employer must also confirm compliance with:

• • Ban-the-box / fair chance laws
  • State disclosure and authorization requirements
  • Position-specific restrictions (e.g., credit checks, salary history bans, conviction lookback limits)

Running the check too early is itself a violation in many jurisdictions.

If you decide not to hire based on the results, you must follow the mandatory adverse action steps:

Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), adverse action is a two-step process with mandatory waiting time.

Getting the order, timing, or contents wrong is one of the most litigated CRA- and employer-side failures.

Adverse action steps are:

• Pre-Adverse Action Notice

Before taking any adverse action, the employer must provide the applicant/employee with:

• Pre-Adverse Action Notice
  • A written notice stating that adverse action is being considered
• A copy of the consumer report
  • The exact report relied upon
  • Not a summary, not a screenshot
• A copy of “A Summary of Your Rights Under the FCRA”
  • The current CFPB-prescribed version
  • Incorrect or outdated versions are actionable
• A reasonable waiting period
  • Typically 5 business days (industry best practice)
  • Courts expect enough time for the consumer to review and dispute

No decision may be finalized during this period.

• Adverse Action Notice

Only after the waiting period, and only if the decision stands, may the employer send the adverse action notice, which must include:

1. Notice of adverse action taken
   – Clear statement of the decision (e.g., employment not offered)
2. CRA identification
   – Name, address, and phone number of the CRA that provided the report
3. CRA non-decision statement
   – Statement that the CRA did not make the decision and cannot explain it
4. Notice of dispute rights
   – The consumer’s right to dispute the accuracy or completeness of the report
5. Right to a free copy
   – Right to obtain another free copy of the report within 60 days

Critical compliance rules (where lawsuits come from):

• No same-day adverse action
• No “combined” pre-adverse/adverse letters
• No verbal-only adverse action
• No missing attachments
• No action before the waiting period expires

Courts treat these as strict-liability violations.

EEOC overlay (often forgotten):

Even when FCRA steps are followed, employers must still:

• Conduct an individualized assessment
• Consider job-relatedness and business necessity
• Avoid automatic disqualification policies

FCRA compliance does not cure EEOC violations.

Quick checklist:

1. Send pre-adverse + report + rights summary
2. Wait (minimum 5 business days)
3. Send the adverse action notice if the decision stands

Miss a step, miss a document, or rush the timing – and you’re exposed.

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964

Aside from regulations on employers as to how they can conduct and gather information required for a criminal background check, there are laws and regulations regarding what you may do with any information uncovered in a pre-employment background check.

When you discover negative information on a job candidate through a criminal background check, you may be restricted in how you can use that information in making a hiring decision.

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) enforces anti-discrimination laws, such as Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Title VII), that restrict you from applying criminal information discovered in a way that discriminates against the job applicant based on age, gender, orientation, race, ethnicity, religious background, national origin, or disability.

One of the important things to keep in mind is whether the criminal information that you are analyzing for an applicant is for an arrest that did not ultimately result in a conviction or a conviction.

You may not necessarily be permitted to consider some arrest information that did not result in a conviction in certain circumstances.

Ban-the-Box Laws

To comply with ban-the-box (fair-chance) laws, employers must control when criminal history is asked about, how it’s evaluated, and what process is followed before disqualification.

Most violations happen at the timing and process stage, not the final decision.

The core rule (applies almost everywhere):

Do not ask about, search for, or consider criminal history until legally permitted.

What “legally permitted” varies by jurisdiction.

Step-by-step compliance framework:

• Remove criminal-history questions from early stages

• No conviction or arrest questions on:
  • Job applications
  • Career site forms
  • Initial screening questionnaires
• No “have you ever been convicted…” language
• No indirect questions that function the same way

Many lawsuits arise from the legacy application language that no one noticed.

• Know when criminal history may be considered

This depends on location:

• Some jurisdictions: after a conditional offer
• Others: after the first interview
• Others: after initial screening

There is no national rule – employers must apply the most restrictive applicable law based on where the work is performed.

• Limit what may be considered

Even when timing is lawful, employers must exclude:

• Arrests not leading to conviction (with narrow exceptions)
• Sealed or expunged records
• Records outside state lookback limits
• Offenses irrelevant to the job

You can easily run into compliance issues by collecting more information than necessary.

• Conduct an individualized assessment

Before disqualifying, employers must evaluate:

• Nature and gravity of the offense
• Time elapsed since conviction or completion of sentence
• Nature of the job and its risks

This mirrors guidance from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and is explicitly required by many local ordinances.

Blanket exclusions are a litigation magnet.

• Provide a pre-adverse opportunity to respond

Many ban-the-box laws require:

• Written notice of the potentially disqualifying record
• A copy of the background report
• A chance for the individual to provide:
  • Evidence of rehabilitation
  • Proof of inaccuracy
  • Context or mitigating information

This is in addition to FCRA pre-adverse action when a CRA is used.

• Apply FCRA adverse action procedures (if a CRA is used)

When criminal history comes from a CRA:

• Pre-adverse action notice
• Copy of the report
• Summary of Rights
• Waiting period
• Final adverse action notice

Ban-the-box laws do not replace FCRA – they layer on top of it.

• Document the decision

Best practice (and often required):

• Written rationale tied to job-relatedness
• Consistent application across candidates
• Retention of notices and timing evidence

Lack of documentation is fatal in audits and litigation.

Common mistakes that get employers sued:

• Asking criminal questions too early
• Using national policies without local carve-outs
• Automatic disqualification rules
• Failing to give candidates a chance to respond
• Treating ban-the-box as “just removing a checkbox”

Quick Summary

Ban-the-box compliance is about process, not forgiveness.

You may still disqualify, but only:

• At the right time
• For the right reasons
• With the right notices
• Using the right documentation

What Does “Substantially Related” Mean in Criminal Background Checks?

In many states, employers aren’t allowed to consider a criminal conviction unless it’s “substantially related” to the job.

But figuring out what counts as “substantially related” isn’t always easy. It’s a case-by-case decision based on the offense’s nature and the job’s duties.

There’s no one-size-fits-all rule, and the standard can feel subjective, especially for employers trying to make the right call while staying compliant.

Wisconsin’s Fair Employment Act and the “Substantial Relationship” Rule

Wisconsin has used the “substantial relatedness” test for decades and has more case law on the topic than most other states.

If you’re looking for guidance, the state’s Labor and Industry Review Commission offers a digest that summarizes past cases and outcomes.

Here are a few examples from Wisconsin decisions:

• A conviction for embezzlement was deemed substantially related to a position requiring unsupervised financial transactions.
• A conviction for disorderly conduct involving domestic violence was substantially related to the job of caregiver for vulnerable elderly or disabled individuals.
• An applicant convicted of personal marijuana possession was denied a stocker job. The ERD noted the role had no opportunity to use or distribute drugs at work, so the conviction was not job-related.
• A battery conviction didn’t disqualify an applicant from a cashier job at a department store. The court ruled there wasn’t a significant connection between the offense and the duties.

What Employers Can Do

Meeting the “substantially related” standard requires more than common sense or intuition.

Regulators and courts expect a documented, job-specific nexus between the criminal conduct and the actual risks of the position.

Most employers lose not because the offense was serious, but because they cannot articulate the connection.

What “substantially related” really means:

A conviction is substantially related to a job only if the conduct underlying the offense creates an unreasonable risk in that specific role.

It is not enough that:

• The offense sounds bad
• Customers might be uncomfortable
• The employer has a “zero-tolerance” policy
• The offense is on a registry

Courts look for logic, consistency, and evidence.

The 3-part test regulators expect:

This framework is drawn directly from guidance enforced by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and embedded in many state fair-chance laws.

• Nature and gravity of the offense

Analyze the actual conduct, not the label.

Ask:

• Was it violent, sexual, financial, or dishonest?
• Who was harmed (child, vulnerable adult, employer, public)?
• Was the conduct opportunistic, coercive, or repetitive?

Example: A conviction involving misuse of client funds is materially different from a low-level theft unrelated to employment.

• Time elapsed since the offense or sentence completion

Risk diminishes over time.

Consider:

• How long ago did the conduct occur?
• Has the person completed sentencing, supervision, or treatment?
• Is there evidence of recidivism, or the opposite?

Bright-line “forever” exclusions almost always fail scrutiny.

• Nature of the job and its specific risks

This is where most employers fall short.

You must identify:

• Level of supervision
• Degree of autonomy
• Access to:
  • Vulnerable populations
  • Homes or private spaces
  • Money, data, or controlled substances
• Frequency and predictability of duties

Critical point: Job titles are irrelevant. Duties control.

Turning the test into a defensible analysis:

• Break the job into risk factors

Document:

• Who the employee interacts with
• What they control
• Where they go
• How much oversight exists

• Map offense conduct to those risks

Ask: “Does this specific conduct create a foreseeable risk in this environment?”

If the answer requires speculation, you don’t have a substantial relation.

• Consider mitigating evidence

Many laws require this:

• Rehabilitation
• Employment history
• Training or treatment
• References
• Evidence of reform

Ignoring mitigation is a common violation.

Examples (why some exclusions survive and others fail)

Likely substantially related:

• Sex offense involving minors → unsupervised childcare role
• Recent embezzlement conviction → finance role with independent control
• Violent assault → solo home-entry role with no supervision

Not substantially related:

• Decades-old offense → highly supervised clerical role
• Registry listing → remote job with no human contact
• Non-violent drug conviction → office role with no safety exposure

Documentation is non-negotiable

To survive audits and lawsuits, employers should maintain:

• Written job-risk analyses
• Individualized assessment notes
• Consistent application across candidates
• Evidence that the decision was not automatic

Courts are far more forgiving of a well-documented decision, even if they disagree with it, than of an undocumented one.

Simple rule courts apply

You must be able to explain – on paper – why this conduct creates risk in this job, today.

If you can’t do that clearly, the standard is not met.

iprospectcheck: Your Trusted Partner for Fast, Accurate, Compliant Criminal Background Checks

At iprospectcheck, we are dedicated to streamlining and simplifying the hiring process for our clients by providing legally compliant, reliable, and efficient criminal background checks on job applicants.

Along with providing complete and accurate criminal background checks, iprospectcheck offers many different screening services for employers, such as employment verification, education verification, drug and alcohol screening, identity verification, civil records searches, credit checks, and credit reports.

We offer affordable, convenient options for employers to customize their pre-employment screening packages and receive only the information you need for your specific hiring process.

The helpful service team at iprospectcheck is committed to responding to all your inquiries promptly.

Our team members are exclusively based in the U.S., which means that you have instant access to trained and knowledgeable representatives for any questions or concerns that may arise.

Contact iprospectcheck today to find out how we can assist with your company’s criminal background check needs.

DISCLAIMER: The resources provided here are for educational purposes only and do not constitute legal advice. Consult your counsel if you have legal questions related to your specific practices and compliance with applicable laws.