What Can, And Can't, Be Asked During The Job Interview
By Linda Lerner | 05/10/2006 - 5:00 AM EST
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Question: I read your article on “Don’t Get Personal.” One of the items you mentioned was arrests. Can you please explain why I should avoid asking about arrests during the interview process? Shouldn’t I need to know if someone has been arrested for drug abuse or stealing, for example, before I employ them in a position that puts them close to my customer’s property or up on a ladder?
Also, before I started my own business, I worked at various companies. Almost every application I have completed in my lifetime has asked about arrests. Are you required to answer this question on an application?
Anyone can be arrested, but that doesn’t mean that they committed the crime.
Fortunately, in the United States we are considered innocent until proven guilty. Arrests can occur when one is suspected of a wide range of possible crimes, from a simple misdemeanor to a major felony. The nature of the arrest and the timing matters. For example, was your prospective bookkeeper arrested for protesting the Viet Nam war 25 years ago or for allegedly embezzling from his last employer three years ago?
Although an arrest is often considered public information, because local police departments release daily arrest logs to the local newspaper, those records are in a very different category than records of convictions. Conviction is the key word here.
Generally speaking, laws allow a potential employer to inquire about convictions but not about arrests. An arrest by itself is no proof of guilt. It is very important to know that states vary greatly in their laws that govern this area of employer rights when requesting information as to an applicant’s possible criminal history.
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