Legal Question in Employment Law in California

pre-employment background checks

1) Is a dismissal of charges upon fine payment still considered a conviction? In this case a misdemeanor. Court paperwork shows it was dismissed.

2) when applying for jobs do you have to say yes if according to above the conviction is more than 5 years. old? I had read that you only have to answer it with a yes if it is less than 5 years to date.

3) currently a personal friend is recruiting me and one of the forms asks that a complete arrest record will be obtained in the state's (CA) counties, does this mean a citizen arrest record will be available? I mean, the nature was such that only store owner had placed a citizen's arrest even though officer was called for paperwork.

Any advice is appreciated since a personal friend may see potential personal information. Thanks


Asked on 1/14/04, 5:29 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Michael Kirschbaum Law Offices of Michael R. Kirschbaum

Re: pre-employment background checks

Employers are only allowed to ask if you've been convicted of a crime. They cannot ask if you were ever arrested. A dismissal suggests that the charge against you was dropped but without seeing the docket, there is no way to know for sure. You will have to research this yourself.

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Answered on 1/15/04, 5:06 pm


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