Any HR Experts? What would you do?

PaleoPath4Lyfe
PaleoPath4Lyfe Posts: 3,161 Member
edited December 18 in Chit-Chat
Scenario:

Person has a job offer contingent on successful background check. Person lives in Illinois, job is in St Louis, MO and corporate office is in Ohio. This person is not sure what the laws are in Missouri or Ohio or which states' laws would even apply here.


This person also did not disclose that they have 2 misdemeanors for "attempted insurance fraud" that they were not guilty of, but took a plea because their lawyer said there was no way to fight it and prove otherwise (this happened in Virginia 12 years ago).

The question on the app read "have you ever been convicted of a crime other than traffic tickets" She marked NO because it has been over 12 years and told by an attorney to just say NO on that question when she checked on getting expungement that it is just a misdemeanor and has not affected her life in any way. He said background checks can only go back 7-10 years for civilian jobs so just mark NO.

Should this person go back and say they made a mistake and need to make a disclosure or would it be best to wait until the background check comes back?

Thanks

Replies

  • PaleoPath4Lyfe
    PaleoPath4Lyfe Posts: 3,161 Member
    bump
  • gatorgirlyyy
    gatorgirlyyy Posts: 349
    As a business owner I would sit my applicant down and discuss the crime and probe for more answers for the whole situation and why she was accused of it in the first place. Use your best judgement. If it doesn't seem right, don't go through with it. It's not worth risking your companies liability.

    :)
  • Tybalt71
    Tybalt71 Posts: 1,064 Member
    Huge REDFLAG-just saying-Ty
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 49,024 Member
    Red Flag would be that there was a conviction due to the plea bargain. Not disclosing it would probably show dishonesty/deception. Not to say that qualification for job isn't acceptable, but character plays big in search for employees. If they are going by background check alone, chances are that applicant will be rejected.

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  • migoi357
    migoi357 Posts: 173 Member
    Plea bargained misdemeanors from 12 years ago and hasn't been in any trouble since then? Why in the world would this even be pertinent then? Seems to me that that the whole second change paradigm would be what should apply.
  • ElizabethRoad
    ElizabethRoad Posts: 5,138 Member
    I used to do criminal records checks when I was in HR. Each state has their own database and we only checked our own state.

    I don't know anything about Missouri law, but when we did it if there was something that came up we would actually speak to the applicant about it. In this case I don't think we would have turned down the applicant. We always took into account the type of offense and the length of time that had passed. And she can explain why she didn't list it on her application: she was advised not to by a lawyer.
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