Legally allowed to ask?

[missymel]

Ohio

I have recently been searching for a new serving job and some restaurants ask about arrests/convictions. I read that employers can use this information if it is somehow related, due to the job being security sensitive. Are employers, like restaurants, legally allowed to obtain this information and/or use it against you in hiring??

 

[cbg]

There are very few questions that an employer is not legally allowed to ask. There are questions, such as regarding arrests, that they may not use in making hiring decisions. Therefore, many employers do not ask the question since they may not use the answer in making the final decision - that does not make asking the question illegal.

Convictions are another matter. In most states, an employer MAY use convictions in making the hiring decision, to a certain degree. In your state, an employer may ask about convictions that have not been sealed by the court. If the conviction bears a direct and substantial relationship to the job at hand, the employer may EVEN ask about convictions that have been sealed by the court.

Of course, there is always going to be a certain amount of subjectivity in regards to how much the conviction has to do with the job in question.

 

[michael parks]

restaurants...CASH CASH CASH.....FOOD FOOD FOOD

Dont want any felons around either or it wont all be there tomorrow!!!