Employers conduct a California backgroundcheck for various reasons, and the main reason is because of the increase in lawsuits for negligent hiring. If an employee harms someone, then any harm that they cause becomes the responsibility of the employer because they should have seen this coming.
Even in cases when an accountant misuses company funds, it would be seen as the responsibility of the employer if the employee is found to have a past record of embezzlement.
With the number of child abuse and abductions, employers are being extra cautious when employing people because most of the resumes and applications do not contain the truth. Even their referrals can be false, most of the time. It becomes the employer’s duty to ensure that a backgroundcheck is done for each and every person before employing them.
California law allows an employer to question the prospective employee only on job-related convictions and no other type of convictions. California law also restricts the records that an employer can collect from the applicants. A job application in California cannot ask for the sex of the person, race, date of birth or even the maiden name.
A backgroundcheck in California has to be performed by an investigator that understands California laws regarding asking information. The California law is a lot more favorable to the applicant than the employer.
Understanding all this will help you if you are an employer in California who is looking to do a pre-employment screening or getting the applications printed to ensure you are within the boundaries of law.
