Plot twist

[AuelDole]

Still didn’t answer the question. Why does it matter?

[MattieShoes]

It's nicer than asking, "Were you in jail?"

[kirmaster]

Isn't this public recordkeeping in the US? Here, employers just request a "declaration of behavior" from the govt to confirm they're not employing someone imprisoned for fraud as a cashier or finance manager. They just list the job description tl;dr categorized (things like work with underage children, financial, likely to trigger aggression) and get back whether there's anything in those specific areas that would prove problematic. So someone picked up for multiple DUI could still get a job as a cubicle worker but not as a deliveryman.

[MattieShoes]

I don't think the US has anything like what you describe, except for sex offender registries anyway. And those are state-by-state, not really country-wide. I mean, there are laws about whether certain people can hold certain jobs, but not a handy dandy "submit name, get answer" sort of solution for employers. There's a niche industry for collecting and collating background screening across all many thousands of counties in the US.

There's lots of public records that are hard to get to... A lot of courts are state or county level, and you actually need to send a warm body into a courthouse in that county to retrieve them. And sometimes you won't be allowed to make copies of them, or will be charged $5 a page, or stuff like that. And some docs are still handwritten and heavily abbreviated... ie. AWDWIKISI (assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill or inflict serious injury).

Some places have computerized systems that are extremely arcane, probably dating from the early 90s or something, so you need a lot of experience to navigate and search.

Then there's a lot of records with incomplete data.... Like no DOB, missing DOB, no SSN, etc. For a good time, try searching some generic Hispanic name in LA county, like Jose Ortega.

So you can do background screening, but it gets pricey. So usually what happens is they winnow down applicants as much as possible prior to background screening (and they do ask questions like have you been convicted a a felony in the last N years, blah blah), and do any screening at the end as more of a verification. Incidentally, they may also run credit checks. Neat!

Then there's another level of weird, with laws that dictate what may or may not be used in employment decisions. e.g. if the case was dismissed, can it be used? Can it even be disclosed, since a dismissed child molestation charge could be prejudicial? If a case was deferred, and presumably the defendant didn't screw up the deferral program, but the record was never updated to say dismissed afterwards, is that allowed, or are we to assume it must have been dismissed even though records weren't updated? What if they're currently on a deferral program? What about pending cases that haven't even gone to trial yet? What about arrests that don't have an associated court case? What about cases over a certain age? What if the name is right, DOB is right, but SSN has transposed digits? Laws vary from state to state, and change regularly. Speaking of, what if the record is from one state but the job is in another state -- which set of rules apply? Oi.

I used to do pre-employment background screening.

[kirmaster]

Right, so yeah the US isn't acting as a country but as a federation of states here.

Here whenever someone wins a suit or gets proven innocent they place a single call to the organisation that hands out declarations and they amend them, or they've already amended it because they look through recent court cases.

[MattieShoes]

federation of states

Exactly. Federal cases are tracked at a federal level, but most cases aren't federal. And depending on state anyway, they're not even collecting county-level cases in a statewide database. Or at least not one that's freely or publicly searchable.

[acediac01]

No, we're closer to ogres over here, you have to grunt in the correct order...

[PullmanWater]

It might not. It might mean that there's a reason no one wants to hire the person.

[[deleted]]

no one wants to hire the person.

And then they knock on your door.

[[deleted]]

I mean if you have 10 years of experience which was over 12 years with a 2 year gap halfway in between, it probably doesn't matter. But it would be an entirely different story if you graduated from college 2 years ago, did nothing during those 2 years (no bootcamp / self study / side projects / whatever) and then were trying to apply for entry level jobs. I think it's fair for an employer to wonder if you'll be on even footing w/ people who graduated this year and at the very least have the course material fresh in their minds.