The Access Campaign is a campaign of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law designed to examine and dismantle barriers to gainful employment for persons with arrest and conviction records and negative credit histories.
Increasingly, employers conduct background checks when vetting potential employees. In 2003, eighty percent of large employers conducted criminal background checks. This practice is now far more prevalent. According to a January 2010 poll of members of the Society of Human Resource Management, 92 percent conducted background checks. Furthermore, the poll revealed that, when deciding whether to extend a job offer, 73 percent of employers would be influenced by a conviction of a non-violent misdemeanor and 31 percent would be influenced by an arrest with no conviction. Due to a myriad of reasons, people of color are more likely to have a criminal history and negative credit history. Thus, any employer implementing a blanket policy prohibiting employment opportunities because of criminal history will disproportionately exclude otherwise qualified applicants of color.
To learn more about criminal background checks and employment, please click on any of the following headings for more information on the indicated topic.
- Job Seeker’s Guide to Employers’ Use of Criminal History Checks
- Criminal Background Checks: Know Your Rights!
- A Guide for Employers on the Use of Background Checks
- Lawyers’ Committee Litigation on Criminal Background Checks
- Criminal Background Checks in the News
- Studies on Impact of Credit Histories and Employment
- SHRM on Employers’ Use of Criminal Background Checks
- What You Need to Know about EEOC’s New Guidance on Criminal Background Checks
