The next Pandora’s Box of criminal background checks

Marti Rovira

doi:10.1177/1477370820977880

Abstract

The use of criminal background checks (CBCs) – requests for information on previous convictions during the employment recruitment process – is growing worldwide. This article seeks to explain the proliferation in CBCs by examining whether novel legislation introducing mandatory requests for some jobs also leads to an increase in requests for CBCs for jobs outside the scope of the law. The present research makes use of survey data collected from individuals requesting criminal records certificates before and after the introduction of new CBC regulation in Spain – EU Directive 93/2011/EU – which established the obligation to request a criminal record certificate covering sexual crimes for jobs involving frequent contact with children. The analysis detects only a small and unsustained growth in non-mandatory checks following introduction of the new law. However, the results suggest that the danger of the new legislation lies in employers requesting certificates with a higher level of disclosure than is required for the positions on which checks were made mandatory by the new law. In addition, the growth in non-mandatory CBCs observed during this period seems to be related not to the new legislation but to the emergence of tech companies, raising alarm regarding the role of novel forms of policy mobility and the new collaborative economy in limiting the re-entry of individuals with criminal records to the labour market.

Highlights

Worldwide, employment recruiters are increasingly conducting criminal background checks (CBCs), seeking to gather information on previous criminal convictions held by applicants prior to the hiring decision (Denver et al, 2018; Larrauri, 2014).1 This may have unfortunate consequences because, when CBCs are prevalent in the labour market, the chances of being hired are low for people with previous convictions (Bushway, European Journal of Criminology 00(0)2004)
This finding indicates that, to understand the current increase in non-mandatory CBCs, it is necessary to look beyond explanations that focus only on the ways in which employers might respond to legislative change and consider how processes of policy mobility are influenced by non-state actors, with the spread of the new ‘collaborative economy’
This research is intended to contribute to the literature on the current growth in CBCs, in relation to the increase in non-mandatory checks

Summary

Introduction

Employment recruiters are increasingly conducting criminal background checks (CBCs), seeking to gather information on previous criminal convictions held by applicants prior to the hiring decision (Denver et al, 2018; Larrauri, 2014). This may have unfortunate consequences because, when CBCs are prevalent in the labour market, the chances of being hired are low for people with previous convictions (Bushway, European Journal of Criminology 00(0)2004). Employment recruiters are increasingly conducting criminal background checks (CBCs), seeking to gather information on previous criminal convictions held by applicants prior to the hiring decision (Denver et al, 2018; Larrauri, 2014).. Previous literature has indicated different technological, social and legal factors that have led to an increase in the use of CBCs (Corda, 2016; Larrauri and Jacobs, 2013; McAlinden, 2012; Thomas and Hebenton, 2013) This literature provided a basis for discussing the effectiveness of public policies directed at confronting the negative consequences of this growth, such as the ‘Ban-the-Box’ campaign and related legislation, expungement measures or privacy laws (Jacobs, 2015; Larrauri, 2014)

Results

Discussion

Conclusion