The ridiculousness of background checks.

[BigJ]

Originally posted by: amdforever2
BigJ I don't think the fact it's a bank hurts my original argument at all.

I agree had I actually committed the crime it would make sense for a bank not to hire burglars.


For corporate america to refuse to hire people that are never convicted, while they move gentleman like Kenneth Lay into CEO positions, makes no sense, however.

You have an arrest for burglary. Do you realize how different that charge is compared to other felony charges in this situation?

I could see if it was for some BS felony charge coming up in the application process for the bank, but the fact that it is BURGLARY and you're applying for a position in a BANK changes everything. If you have a burglary charge and you're applying for a floor position away from money, or an assault charge but you're working alone in a computer room, those situations don't make sense to blackball someone from being hired.

But the fact that burglary is so damn common in banks, and that you would know the ins and outs of the bank you're working at, raises all sorts of red flags if you were arrested for it.

I mean would you trust someone with arrests for drug possession and use in a pharmacy?

Also, if you don't think it affected your original argument, why did you choose to leave out that piece of information in the first place?

 

[wasssup]

Ouch. I've been fvcked over in the past, but you're getting reamed bro.

Keep us updated on how things turn out.

 

[ThunderLew]

My company does background checks on all employees that may or may need access to financial records of our customers. The stupid thing is that HR has lost some of my coworkers background checks and had to run them several times over. What most people don't realize is that having too many background checks affects your credit score. It just so happened that the same coworker whose background check was lost by HR was also in the process of buying a new home. Needless to say, he was pretty pissed about having our Idiot HR team misplace his background check.

 

[amdforever2]

When a company pulls a credit report for a background check it is coded as a soft inquiry.


Soft inquiries don't damage credit.


As far as working for a bank, I don't get to wander vaults or anything. It's a call center. Yes, the access to customer information is sensitive.

Overall, the situation was rectified within 3 days, which isn't so bad.

But if their super intelligent system can find the arrest, shouldn't they trust it to find any conviction that existed? Asking me to prove there were no charges was quite a pain.

 

[cavemanmoron]

Originally posted by: amdforever2
I was given a job offer by a company. Two days before scheduled start they say they are halting the process because I "have burglary on my rap sheet".

I was arrested once, and fingerprinted and somehow the word burglary got thrown on there.

I was released, never charged, never prosecuted.

The company says I must prove to them I was never prosecuted. I call the local municipal court, they just say "uh, you were released by police that's all it says. no, we can't write a letter for you. kthx."


I go to the police station. I spend like $20 buying various reports of myself until I get one that shows every arrest, every charge, ever put against me.

All the traffic tickets say GUILTY or PLEAD TO LESSER CHARGE.

The burglary entry, the only one found, doesn't say GUILTY or PLEAD TO LESSER CHARGE or anything except RELEASED BY POLICE.

That's it, that's all.

I faxed this paper to the company. They want to investigate more. There's nothing to investigate! There is no paper to find! There's nothing! Apparently I'm supposed to get a presidential pardon or something for a charge that never came to pass!

This is ridiculous.

The offer letter says I'm supposed to start tomorrow.

I think I'm going to go in, give local HR the arrest record, and demand they honor the offer I accepted in good faith.

I already quit my current job.
Wiki says it is illegal to refuse to hire or retract offer based on an arrest record.


Thoughts on what I should do?

Dammm stuff you did at age 16-17 came back to haunt you,
bummer.

PSA, if you have been arrested even as a juvenile, the info can come to light,
for a security check for a job.

Good luck.

 

[Stuxnet]

Originally posted by: Nohr
Rob the place, show them you mean business.

LMAO

 

[Stuxnet]

Originally posted by: Linflas
When I accepted my first real full time job after college I put in my 2 weeks notice with the bank I had been working at my last 2 years of school plus about 8 months after graduation as a teller. On my last day of work I get a call from the new job and the guys says something has come up on my record. I was racking my brain trying to think what it could be since I have never been to jail in my entire life.

It turned out to be a drinking in public ticket I was given 2 years prior. When the cop gave me the ticket it was on the same yellow form they use for traffic tickets etc and I paid it just like I would any other traffic ticket. The application asked if I had ever been arrested for anything excluding minor traffic offenses and I thought I was being honest when I said no. They told me that this could be grounds for rescinding the offer but after I explained the above they gave me a BS lecture about answering that question correctly in the future and I went to work for them the following Monday as scheduled.

You're giving the OP sh*t and you think that a drinking in public citation is just another form of a traffic ticket? Some sort of moving violation?

WTF

 

[Stuxnet]

After getting through this whole thread, I can't believe how many people have totally ignored the whole "innocent until proven guilty" concept. I know this isn't a court of law, but what's the point of the idea if you're still going to be treated as guilty in every facet of life?

A lot of people also completely ignored the fact that the real problem is here is that the agency reported INACCURATE information and, possibly, information the employer wasn't even entitled to. The issue is NOT that the OP got arrested. I'm not saying I'd want a guy with an arrest record working for me either, but we're talking about the law and employment ethics. From that vantage point, the OP was most certainly wronged (even though he eventually got the job, it should have been a total non-issue; it never should have even surfaced).

I suspect that had the employer rescinded the offer, the OP would have been justified in suing any number of entities... including but not limited to the employer.

 

[Doodoo]

i'm surprised they did the background check after they made the offer instead of before. if they had done it before, he most likely wouldn't have gotten the job. and judging from his reaction to this whole ordeal...i'm sure he'll do a fine job in customer services.....

 

[Stuxnet]

Originally posted by: Doodoo
i'm surprised they did the background check after they made the offer instead of before. if they had done it before, he most likely wouldn't have gotten the job. and judging from his reaction to this whole ordeal...i'm sure he'll do a fine job in customer services.....

I don't think it's fair to fault the OP for getting upset. He quit his job to accept a new one. I know it was a glitch, but it was handled very poorly by all involved (HR, the court, etc) and it was a glitch that threatened his livlihood. Keep in mind he was never a d1ck to the HR dept, he was only saying he would take action if they rescinded the offer... and at that point, why shouldn't he? There's nothing to lose at that point. Yes, he would be on the HR hit list, but it would at least buy him time to find another job rather than being unemployed because of a court/employer fvck-up.

 

[crownjules]

Originally posted by: jbourne77

Originally posted by: Doodoo
i'm surprised they did the background check after they made the offer instead of before. if they had done it before, he most likely wouldn't have gotten the job. and judging from his reaction to this whole ordeal...i'm sure he'll do a fine job in customer services.....

I don't think it's fair to fault the OP for getting upset. He quit his job to accept a new one. I know it was a glitch, but it was handled very poorly by all involved (HR, the court, etc) and it was a glitch that threatened his livlihood. Keep in mind he was never a d1ck to the HR dept, he was only saying he would take action if they rescinded the offer... and at that point, why shouldn't he? There's nothing to lose at that point. Yes, he would be on the HR hit list, but it would at least buy him time to find another job rather than being unemployed because of a court/employer fvck-up.

Exactly. Everyone is getting on OP's case when I think most people would react exactly the same way. Unconvicted arrests shouldn't appear on background checks, so imagine your surprise if you are called up by the company you assume you're going to be working for, after they've extended an offer, to say you're being put on a hold due to a pending investigation into why you were arrested. If you've never been convicted of a crime in your life, wouldn't this cause you worry as well? Certainly I would be more then a little concerned.

 

[zanieladie]

WOW! Kepp us posted with an update. I hope it all works out in your favor!