According to the first annual Human Resources Compliance Survey conducted by leading human capital due diligence firm PeopleG2, the vast majority of American executives believe their companies are compliant with EEOC guidelines (94%). however 72% of those surveyed ask job applicants about criminal history in applications despite 2012 EEOC guidelines designed to reverse the procedure. “EEOC compliance is the number one issue we hear about from our clients, and the findings of this survey don’t surprise me,” said Chris Dyer, PeopleG2’s founder and CEO. “Most companies are still unaware that questions about criminal history on job applications can be discriminatory and that communication about criminal history should arise as an open dialog much later in the decision-making stage of hiring.” In addition, more than 14% of respondents fail to offer any opportunity to discuss the existence of criminal history in the application process. However, the EEOC issued the new guidelines to ensure that hiring entities consider whether the nature of a crime is relevant to the job, whether skills necessary for the job could be compromised based on the criminal history and whether time has elapsed to allow for correction before a candidate is rejected.
