July 19, 2012 SHRM Survey Findings: Background - PowerPoint Presentation

Slide1

July 19, 2012

SHRM Survey Findings: Background

Checking—The

Use of

Criminal Background Checks

in Hiring Decisions Slide2

Key Findings

2

Do organizations conduct criminal

background checks

on job

candidates?

Sixty-nine percent of organizations reported that they conduct criminal background checks on all of their job candidates. Eighteen percent of organizations conduct criminal checks on select job candidates, and 14% do

not

conduct criminal checks on any job candidates.

When do organizations initiate

criminal

background checks?

Among organizations that conduct criminal background checks, most initiate criminal

background checks after a contingent job offer

(62%)

or after the job interview (

32%). Very few organizations (4%) initiate criminal background checks before a job interview.

Why

do organizations conduct

criminal

background checks?

Organizations

conduct

criminal

checks on job

candidates

1) to reduce legal liability for negligent

hiring (52%)

and 2) to

ensure a safe work environment for employees (49%).

What

type of criminal activity could influence

the

decision not to hire

a particular job

candidate?

The

top two criminal activities

that

are very influential in the decision not to hire a job

candidate

are a convicted violent felony (96%) and a convicted nonviolent felony (74%).

Do organizations

allow

job candidates to explain the results of

their criminal

checks?

Yes;

58%

of organizations allow job candidates to explain the results of their

criminal

checks before the decision to hire or not to hire is

made,

and

27%

allow job candidates to explain the results after the decision

is

made.Slide3

Does your organization, or an agency hired by your organization, conduct

criminal

background checks

for any job candidates?

3

Note: Respondents who answered “not sure” were excluded from this analysis. Percentages may not equal 100% due to rounding. Slide4

Does your organization, or an agency hired by your organization, conduct

criminal

background checks

for any job candidates?

Comparisons by organization staff size

2,500 to 24,999 employees (83%)

100 to 499 employees (69%)

>

1 to 99 employees (48%)

4

Comparisons by organization staff size

Organizations with

100 to 499

employees and 2,500 to 24,999 employees are more likely than organizations with 1 to 99 employees to

conduct criminal background checks for all job candidates.

Note: Only statistically significant differences are shown.

Comparisons by organization sector

Publicly owned for-profit organizations are more likely than privately owned for-profit organizations to conduct criminal background checks for all job candidates.

Comparisons by

organization sector

Publicly owned for-profit (84%)

>

Privately

owned for-profit (62%)Slide5

When does your organization, or any agency hired by your organization, initiate

criminal background checks

on job candidates?

5

n = 343Slide6

What are the primary reasons your organization conducts

criminal background checks

on job candidates?

6

Note:

Percentages do not equal 100% due to multiple response options.

Respondents were asked to select top two options.Slide7

When conducting a criminal background check

on job candidates, how influential is/would be the discovery of each of the following in your decision NOT to extend a job offer?

7

Note: Figure represents respondents who answered “very influential.” Percentages are based on a scale where 1 = “not at all influential” and 4 = “very influential.”Slide8

When conducting a

criminal background check

on job candidates, how influential are/would be the following factors related to a criminal activity (regardless of whether they resulted in conviction)

in your decision NOT to extend a job offer?

8

Note: Figure represents respondents who answered “very influential.” Percentages are based on a scale where 1 = “not at all influential” and 4 = “very influential.” Other information that influences the decision not to extend a job offer is

nondisclosure

of criminal activity prior to

a background

check

.Slide9

Does your organization allow job candidates, in certain circumstances, the opportunity to explain the results of their

criminal background check

that might have an adverse effect on an employment decision?

9Slide10

Criminal Background Checks Conducted on Select Job Candidates

10Slide11

Which category of job candidates does your organization conduct

criminal

background checks

on?

11

Note: The data in this figure represent organizations that conduct criminal background checks on

select job candidates

.

Percentages do not equal 100% due to multiple response options

.

With small sample sizes, the response of one participant can affect the overall results considerably; this should be noted when making interpretations of the data, particularly when interpreting small percentage differences.

Slide12

Demographics: Organization Industry

12

Note: n = 386. Percentages do not equal 100% due to multiple response options.

Percentage

Manufacturing

19%

Health care and social assistance

17%

Professional, scientific and technical services

12%

Other services, except public administration

10%

Educational services

9%

Finance and insurance

7%

Retail trade

5%

Public administration

4%

Transportation and warehousing

4%

Religious, grantmaking, civic, professional and similar organizations

4%

Accommodation and food services

3%Slide13

Demographics: Organization Industry (Continued)

13

Percentage

Arts, entertainment and recreation

3%

Utilities

3%

Administrative and support and waste management and remediation services

2%

Construction

2%

Information

2%

Wholesale trade

2%

Agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting

2%

Real estate and rental and leasing

2%

Repair and maintenance

2%

Mining

1%

Management of companies and enterprises

1%

Note: n = 386. Percentages do not equal 100% due to multiple response options. Slide14

Demographics: Organization Sector

14

Note: n = 386. Percentages do not equal 100% due to rounding.Slide15

Demographics: Organization Staff Size

15

n = 375Slide16

Demographics: Other

16

Does your organization have U.S.-based operations (business units) only or does it operate multinationally?

U.S.

-based operations only

76%

Multinational

operations

24%

n

= 386

Is your organization a single-unit organization or a multi-unit organization?

Single-unit organization: An organization in which the location and the organization are one and the same

36%

Multi-unit organization: An organization that has more than one location

64%

n

= 387

For multi-unit organizations, are HR policies and practices determined by the multi-unit

headquarters, by each work location or both?

Multi-unit

headquarters determines HR policies and practices

56%

Each work location determines HR policies

and practices

4%

A combination of both the

work location and the multi-unit headquarters determine HR policies and practices

40%

n

= 257

What is the HR department/function you responded for throughout this survey?

Corporate (compan

ywide)

71%

Business unit/division

15%

Facility/location

15%

Note: n

= 256.

Percentages do not equal 100% due to rounding.

Slide17

Response rate = 19%

Sample composed of 544 randomly selected HR professionals from SHRM’s membership

Margin of error +/-4%

Survey fielded December 28, 2011-February 7, 2012

17

Methodology

Background

Checking—The

Use of

Criminal

Background Checks

in Hiring DecisionsFor more poll findings, visit www.shrm.org/surveysFollow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/SHRM_Research

Project leader: Justina Victor, survey research analyst, SHRM Research

Project contributors: Evren Esen, manager, SHRM Research

Mark Schmit, Ph.D., SPHR, vice president, SHRM ResearchCopy editor:

Katya Scanlan