How far back do pre-employment criminal background checks go?

[Chickadee71]

What is the name of your state? WA

My husband has accepted a salary offer to work at as a mechanic at a large university. However, it is still contingent on a background check. Back in 2000 he was charged with malicious mischief (a misdemeanor) and burglary. Both charges were the same day because he went to his ex's apartment (used to be his as well) and knocked on the door and there was no answer. This was shortly after their breakup and he wanted his stuff back so he broke down the door and got his stuff. He ended up being arrested and spent the weekend in jail. Other than that, he's just had 5 or 6 speeding tickets on his record. Back in 2008 he was hired at Boeing and went through a background check there as well and was hired without issue, so if that charge didn't stop him from being hired there 8 years after it happened, it seems it would be even less of a problem now, 18 years later.

Do you think this charge will be an issue for him?

 

[cbg]

Very likely not. But the to answer the subject heading question generally is, as far back as the employer wants it to go. There can be exceptions by state; It also matters whether the employer does the check directly or whether it's done by a third party.

If the underlying question here is, can he lie about this charge without being found out, the answer is that would be an incredibly stupid thing to do. While it's not certain that the charge would be seen in a background check, if it is and he's lied about it that's the ball game - job is gone. He does not have to volunteer the information if he isn't asked about it; if he's asked about charges within the past ten years, say, he's free to answer None. But if he's asked about charges EVER, he'll need to disclose it or risk being fired/not hired for falsification of his application. He needn't worry that this is going to be a deal breaker automatically - many employers will forgive a single mistake, especially one so long ago that was never repeated. However, few if any will forgive being lied to.

 

[Mapper]

Very likely not. But the to answer the subject heading question generally is, as far back as the employer wants it to go. There can be exceptions by state; It also matters whether the employer does the check directly or whether it's done by a third party.

If the underlying question here is, can he lie about this charge without being found out, the answer is that would be an incredibly stupid thing to do. While it's not certain that the charge would be seen in a background check, if it is and he's lied about it that's the ball game - job is gone. He does not have to volunteer the information if he isn't asked about it; if he's asked about charges within the past ten years, say, he's free to answer None. But if he's asked about charges EVER, he'll need to disclose it or risk being fired/not hired for falsification of his application. He needn't worry that this is going to be a deal breaker automatically - many employers will forgive a single mistake, especially one so long ago that was never repeated. However, few if any will forgive being lied to.

I forgot to mention that he did indeed disclose the charge when he applied for the job. The online form he filled out asked if he had ever been charged with a crime and he said yes and what it was (although he didn't go into details of the why or how of it). Nobody in either of the interviews he had ever brought that up to him.

So if he disclosed it AND it was 18 years ago, he should be fine??

 

[PayrollHRGuy]

Yes, it is doubtful if they were going to hold it against him they would run the background check to begin with.

 

[cbg]

With the understanding that my crystal ball is out being cleaned, yes, I don't see this being a problem.

 

[Chickadee71]

I looked back on the circuit court records online for him and this charge used to show up there for years, but now is gone. Why would that be? It occurred in 2000 so I thought maybe because it was that far back, but there are still dates from 1996 and 98 that show up which were probably speeding tickets.

 

[Zigner]

You may wish to review the following PDF from the ACLU. https://www.aclu-wa.org/file/99150/download?token=m4Hs9loV

 

[xylene]

What was the disposition of the charges?

 

[Chickadee71]

Looking at the report I got from the DMV it says the disposition he was guilty of criminal trespass 1st degree and guilty of malicious mischief 3rd degree (both misdemeanors) but for the burglary/theft charge after disposition it says N/A and the conviction date after all of them also say N/A so does that mean it didn't happen or that it's not available?

 

[Chickadee71]

He finally got an email from the university with a link to provide his info for the background check by the 3rd party vendor. They asked for his addresses from the past 7 years so does that mean that’s all the further they’ll go back for the criminal background check?