Know Who You’re Hiring
Any time you’re preparing to hire a new employee, you’ll want to arm yourself with as much information as possible about your prospects. It’s important you bring in people who will mesh well with your team, and who you can trust to be reliable and straight up with you.
You should always conduct criminal background checks and various forms of identity verification, but it’s also important to conduct some types of public record searches, such as searches of sex offender registries. A sex offender check allows you to quickly determine whether or not a prospect has ever been convicted of a sex-related crime, which is an extremely important factor to consider when considering workplace culture in the “Me too” era.
Here’s some important information to know about these checks as you go through your prospect evaluations.
Who will you find on a sex offender registry?
In a sex offender registry check, you’ll receive information such as:
Every state runs its own sex offender databases, which are publicly available so people can be aware of the presence of high-risk sex offenders in their area. While there are some differences from state to state with regard to how these registries are maintained and run, the general idea is that anyone who has been convicted of a sexual felony against an adult or any sexual crime against a child will be required to register as a sex offender. In some cases, even public indecency or statutory rape can land a person on the sex offender registry.
The most serious sex offenders must register for life, but others may be able to be removed from the registry after a few years with good behavior.
The sex offender registry tells community members where the offenders are located in their community so they can take the proper precautions.
What information do you get from a sex offender check in Louisiana?
- Name & any known aliases
Physical characteristics, including certain distinguishing features
Current home address
Date & location in which they were convicted
Nature of the offense
Armed with this information, you can feel confident in your decision about whether or not it is a good idea to move forward with a hire. Just because a person is listed on the sex offender registry does not necessarily mean they need to be an automatic “no” for hiring purposes. The context of the offense is important to consider. If, for example, a person is on the registry for a statutory rape charge when they were still a teenager, this is likely to affect your decision making process much differently than if you discover a person was convicted of a violent rape charge as an adult. This is why learning the nature of the offense as part of the check is so important.
Global Data Fusion, LLC is your reliable source for sex offender checks
At Global Data Fusion, LLC, we carefully comb sex offender registries and, when we find a match, provide you reports with thorough information about the nature of the offense and other information that can help you in your decision making processes. We provide this service affordably and perform the checks quickly so you can make your decisions as efficiently as possible.
For more information about the benefits of working with GDF for your sex offender checks or to order yours today, contact us.
Frequently Asked Questions
Here are some of the questions we most commonly receive regarding our sex offender checks:
There isn’t a clear-cut answer to this question. State laws generally have some limits with how employers can use convictions in their hiring and promotion decisions. But there are also negligence issues to consider when bringing in an offender into the workplace.
The general rule is that there must be a clear connection between the offense and the job the offender would be performing for you to use their status as an offender as a reason to not hire them. For example, if an offender committed a sexual crime involving a child, then you are more than justified in not hiring them to be in a position where they’d be supervising or interacting with children.
It can be a good idea to consult with an employment attorney if you’re wondering what responsibilities you have when making hiring decisions taking criminal history into account.
Sex offenders who are still on probation or parole or are actively in treatment may be required to inform their employers or potential employers as a condition of those programs. However, offenders who are not under any form of supervision or enlisted in any program are not legally required at all to inform their employer that they are listed on the sex offender registry, and there really isn’t much benefit to them in doing so anyway.
This is why it’s important for employers to be proactive in ordering these sex offender registry checks themselves if they wish to get this information before making hiring decisions. If they’re on the registry, it will be relatively easy to find them. But if you don’t check, don’t expect them to tell you during the application process.
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