ANAHEIM HILLS, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--According 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 Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) guidelines (94 percent), however 72 percent 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 percent 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.
“In order to make hiring decisions that are not discriminatory, companies must consider candidates for their abilities and job fit before factoring in other information that might impact his or her work,” added Dyer. “Companies should ‘Ban the Box’ on applications that automatically eliminates job applicants who have criminal histories and consider the positive aspects of each candidate first.”
Survey Findings (1,493 respondents)
Does your company actively use criminal background checks when hiring?
Yes:
72.32%
No: 26.37%
Not Sure: 1.31%
Does your company ask job applicants if they have a criminal history
at some point during the application process?
Yes: 74.4%
No:
21.93%
Not Sure: 3.67%
Does your company’s application process allow for an explanation of
any criminal history?
Yes: 79.37%
No: 14.62%
Not
Sure: 6.01%
Do you believe your company is compliant with current Equal
Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) guidelines?
Yes: 93.99%
No:
0.78%
Not Sure: 5.23%
Do you believe EEOC guidelines are fair to your job candidates?
Yes:
80.16%
No: 4.96%
Not Sure: 14.88%
Do you believe EEOC guidelines are fair to your employer?
Yes:
63.45%
No: 14.10%
Not Sure: 22.45%
About PeopleG2
Founded in 2001, PeopleG2 is one of the top human capital due diligence service providers firms in North America, leveraging proprietary processes and tools to serve clients’ risk management needs and support their most strategic people-related decisions. Drawing on military intelligence-gathering term “G2,” PeopleG2 proactively and systematically conducts discovery on both the potential sources of value and potential concerns that accompany human capital assets. The company has consistently set itself apart from the industry’s highly commoditized, excessively automated background check service providers by focusing on each customer’s unique business needs and being a very flexible, hands-on provider.
PeopleG2 offers proven, scalable, high-impact and legally defensible business solutions for employers/human resources departments, executive leadership teams, business investors, corporate restructuring and merger-and-acquisition architects and even property owners. PeopleG2 was recently named to the 2013 Inc. 500|5000 “Fastest Growing Companies,” as well as Orange County Business Journal’s 2013 “Best Places to Work” and “Fastest Growing Private Companies in Orange County” lists. More about PeopleG2 can be found at www.peopleg2.com.
Methodology
PeopleG2’s first annual Human Resources Compliance Survey findings are based on an online survey of 1,493 human resources executives that concluded in September of 2013. All participants are from the United States and work for companies with 25,000 or more employees worldwide.