4. Agree to let your employer do a background check
Question & Answer
Will a youth record affect my chances of getting a job?When you apply for a job, your potential employer is allowed to ask for a background check. Usually this only happens once they have offered you the job.
Many employers prefer to get the background check themselves. They get your background check from a company that provides official police records. But they can't do this unless you give them permission.
What it means when you agree to a background check
An employer who wants your permission to get a background check will ask you to sign a consent form. You don't have to sign the form. But if you don't, the employer can choose to not hire you.
It's a good idea to do your own background check before applying for jobs. See Step 3. That way, you know which records an employer will see on your background check.
The employer isn't allowed to access your youth records even if you signed the consent form. No one is allowed to tell the employer about your youth records. The company that provides record checks isn't allowed to share information from your youth records with the employer. They can only share adult records.
Sharing any information from your youth records with an employer is an . No one is even allowed to tell the employer that your youth records exist.
Don’t include your youth records on the consent form
The consent form shouldn't ask you to write down or talk about your youth records. It's illegal for you to write down your youth records on an employer's consent form. Look at this sample consent form.
Most consent forms ask about your records. The form may ask for the date of your convictions or a list of your convictions. Since youth records aren't convictions, you can leave that section blank or write “None”.
What happens if youth records show up during the check
If the company that does background check finds a youth record, they must create 2 separate reports:
- a background check report that shows only the youth records, and
- a background check report that shows any other records and doesn't mention the youth records.
The company that does the record check isn't allowed to give the employer your youth records just because you signed the consent form. They must only give the report with your youth records to you. But they can give the report with your adult records to the employer.
