Employers in many states customarily include on their job applications a request that the applicant list all prior convictions of any crimes. State laws in such states typically permit such requests, and further allow employers to use the answers in determining whether to extend an offer of employment, but only to the extent the conviction would be directly relevant to the applicant’s qualifications to perform the job in question.
Other states provide more restrictive rules, with some prescribing the point at which an individual’s criminal record may be revealed in the hiring process, while other states have moved to protect employers by adopting laws, in conjunction with other reforms, limiting the liability of employers that hire people with criminal records. In addition to complying with these various state law regimes, employers are likewise required to comply with federal law, which includes a “disparate impact” theory of liability under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
