Many incorrectly assume that Maryland has banned doing criminal conviction searches in Maryland. This stems from wording in the Maryland Human Relations Commission Guidelines on Employee Selection Procedure. It is incorrect to assume you, as an employer, are no longer allowed to make inquiries of prior criminal convictions. Maryland allows inquiries about convictions that bear […]

Should you conduct a statewide criminal conviction search or just do a county criminal search when performing background investigations on applicants, employees or volunteers? The answer is……..IT DEPENDS. And, if you are using a consumer reporting agency to deliver your background investigations wouldn’t you want one that can take the time to select those states […]

Expunged criminal records and their applicability in making a hiring decision have come up in a recent lawsuit filed by two individuals against the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD). California Labor Code states that employers cannot use convictions that have been judicially dismissed or ordered sealed as a factor in determining whether to hire […]

Are you missing criminal convictions when you perform a background investigation? Criminal convictions are located in primarily two separate places. A criminal conviction in one location WILL NOT be discoverable in the other location. Those locations are county criminal courts and federal district courts. Local criminal convictions are violations of local laws. Federal district court […]

Ban The Box is definitely not accomplishing its goal. This is a fact borne out by recent studies. Legislators are always trying to regulate human behavior. And it always never works. They increase taxes. People adjust their lives accordingly so they either minimize or don’t pay the taxes. The unintended consequence is taxes go down. […]