What Employers Look For in Court Records

If you have recently entered the ranks of those looking for a job, you may keep coming across the same thing at the bottom of each job application. Employers are disclosing that they will be performing a background check on you as part of their hiring process. Most employers will look through the court records of the county you live in and will be working in.

Employers regularly search court records for background information on job applicants. This is particularly true if they are hiring for a position that will have access to cash, credit cards, or even general merchandise. By accessing the court records they can find out if the job applicant has a history of petty theft or larceny. Check fraud or forgery is also something that will tip an employer off for any applicant that is in looking for a retail position.

If you are applying for a job in which you will be driving a company vehicle or even your own vehicle on company time, employers will look at court records to see if you have drunk driving convictions, excessive speed tickets that were considered felonies, or other court records pertaining to your driving history.

Any jobs that would involve you working with children or being in close proximity to children such as a teacher, bus driver, lunch aide, etc. would have employers looking at criminal court records. There, they would search for any court records in regards to sexual harassment or molestation. This search is now expanding to employers who hire in the health care industry where nurses and nurses aides will be caring for sick and elderly patients.

Employers perform these court record searches to protect themselves and their liability in the event a future incident occurred. If they have performed a thorough court record search and did not find any damaging records that will help them absolve any liability. If, however, damaging records were found and they hired the job applicant regardless, they may be on the hook for future crimes.