If you are someone who is looking
for a job, then having criminal charges can make it very difficult for you to
secure employment successfully. You might say that your criminal life was a
thing of the past; that you have officially completed your sentence, did your
jail time and paid your debts, but still it might be a tad problematic for you
to convince to your prospective employer that you will be good at your service.
Hence it is important for you to know how your potential employer might find
out about your criminal past, how can such records prevent you from securing
jobs and in what ways you can increase your chances of getting employment.
A good way to make sure that your
prospective employers do not know about your criminal past is to apply for sealing of record. This is a highly complicated and detailed process; one that
will allow all of your past records to be sealed or expunged. Once it is done
so, they will be regarded as practically non-existent for general uses. Here
are some of the things that you need to know about criminal records and the
whole process of sealing them.
The accessibility of criminal records in general
In some states of USA, the criminal
records are not accessible to the public which means that access to information
of this kind is restricted for the general population except in certain special
circumstances. However, the convictions are held as public records. With the
advent of the internet, it is now possible for an employer to find out about
the possible criminal allegations of employees and applicants simply by
browsing the online resources. A data search can reveal an arrest record but it
cannot disclose the outcome; i.e. whether the person was released without
charge, sent to some diversion program, convicted or acquitted. The arrests
that don’t end up as formal charges are handled differently than convictions
and the arrests pending trial.
Convictions
A conviction is basically a plea,
a verdict, or a judgment of guilt irrespective of the fact that whether the
individual charged is sentenced or not. They may also include “no contest”
pleas or nolo contendere. Most employers tend to look into the employee’s or
applicant's convictions. The conviction records are the most easily and legally
accessible information available to employers who are researching an employee’s
or applicant's criminal history. They can be easily found in the data base
searches. Some laws may restrict the level of reliance an employer may have on
convictions for finalizing employment decisions. For example, in California,
only convictions within 7 years before the actual employment application can be
taken into consideration.
Arrests
The arrest records are mainly
records of arrests and detentions that do not lead to a conviction or a guilty
plea. The employer questions regarding arrests are seen as discriminatory under
the federal guidelines and so they can be barred in several states.
Arrests pending trial
An employer can enquire if the
applicant or the employee has been previously arrested pending trial, and use
information about such an arrest pending trial while making employment
decisions. This is something that is practiced in many states. The reason for
this is that an arrest may still lead to a conviction.
Expunged records
With appropriate court order, a
criminal conviction can be completely expunged from an individual person’s
record. Once a conviction is expunged, it is treated as if it had never existed.
As a result, majority of the states prohibit the employers from denying a
person employment or firing him/her based on any expunged convictions.
Expungement of criminal records
cannot simply happen on their own; the convicted person in question needs to
apply for such to an appropriate court. Legally, an employer cannot deny
someone employment based on expunged records. However, if you think that your
prospective employer is deny you the job because of your criminal past, you may
have a hard time actually proving it. It is therefore always advisable that you
ask for documentations regarding any kind of background checks, consumer credit
reports or investigative reports that your prospective employer may have on
you. You should also keep a close watch to notice if your employer is
prohibiting any information about you.
If you want to know more about
how your pending criminal charges may affect your employment opportunities or
need help with the sealing or expunging of your records, then you should get in
touch with a professional criminal lawyer in Colorado who has adequate
experience in such matters. A lawyer with several years of experience in
expungement can guide you in every step of the way to make sure that your
records are sealed completely and that your chances of getting a job is
increased in the process.