How Far Back Does a Background Check Go?

Since the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) does not cover criminal records – no federal law restricts how much of an applicant’s history an employer may review. The lookback period is a common concern among employers and job seekers for pre-employment vetting. The true answer varies depending on the type of background check and the location.

Some investigations have more extended lookback periods than others. Local Ban-the-Box laws can also affect employers and job applicants. Continue reading to determine the many types of checks and how far back they may go. 

Types of Checks and Their Lookback Period

So, how far does an employment background check go? The record type is the primary variable to impact lookback periods. Because state laws vary substantially, employers should consult an attorney or review relevant local legislation before vetting. Background check services, including backgroundchecks.com, must also strive to keep track of these laws and their changes to assist employers in designing a compliant hiring process for specific locales.

The following overview discusses common restrictions and the different kinds of background checks:

Pre-employment background check

Seven years is the most common lookback period for employment-related criminal checks across jurisdictions. Some states allow employers to review an entire decade, while others don’t have any time limitations. However, these laws can have subtle variations. For example, the lookback period may change based on whether someone was recently convicted and sentenced or has completed their jail term.

Level 2 check

The term Level 2 Check does not have a unanimous definition. Some report providers use terms such as Level 1 and Level 2 to demarcate tiers of investigation service packages.

Florida separates investigations into Level 1 and Level 2 categories, though it is the only state to do so as a matter of law. In Florida, a Level 1 investigation is a less in-depth check. These reports can include a Florida-only name-based criminal search, an employment history verification screening, additional local county criminal searches, or sex offender registry checks.

A Level 2 assessment is more in-depth, incorporating fingerprint-based searches of Florida Department of Law Enforcement records, national FBI databases, and more localized crime record searches with county courthouses or law enforcement agencies.

So, how far back do background checks go in Florida at Level 2? Florida has no laws limiting how far back an employer can seek criminal convictions in a candidate’s past. However, the state does abide by national laws, including the FCRA. The FCRA’s Seven-Year Rule mandates that arrests not be reported for more than seven years on any background check. Florida follows these rules even for Level 2 background checks.

Credit check

Employment-related credit history checks can also go back seven years, though state laws sometimes allow ten years. Well-paid senior jobs with high-level responsibilities like managing or handling finances often undergo decade-long lookbacks. 

Recent years have seen resistance to the relevance of credit history to most jobs. That has led to a vigorous legislative movement banning or restricting pre-employment credit history checks in several states and localities.

As of 2022, 11 states (California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Nevada, Oregon, Vermont, and Washington) and the District of Columbia have laws restricting employment-related credit checks. Several major jurisdictions – including Chicago, New York City, and Philadelphia – have passed similar laws.

Employers in these areas should review all compliance requirements before using credit history screenings in their employment process.

Driving record check

The lookback period for driving record checks varies more dramatically than most other reviews. Driving records can look back ten years or as little as three years, depending on the state.

Misdemeanors and minor infractions

The severity of a crime can impact the lookback period in some states where employers can access felony convictions indefinitely. Other states restrict this information to the seven- or 10-year lookback periods. Reporting times for misdemeanors may vary based on state and local laws.

Verification checks

Verifies job application data (including educational history, employment history, reference checks, personal information, and professional licenses, etc) have no lookback restrictions. Functionally, these checks can span a candidate’s entire lifetime.

Rules and restrictions

So far, we’ve explored the general rules for background screening lookback periods. However, for proper compliance, employers should be aware of specific rules and regulations that may apply to them.

Typically, these directives fall into two categories:

1. FCRA requirements, which apply to all employers nationwide, and
2. State regulations that vary significantly from one part of the country to the next.

Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) regulations

The FCRA limits the adverse information a bacground check can include. Under the FCRA, background screening companies cannot include bankruptcy cases if the reports are older than ten years. Despite these decade-long lookback periods, the FCRA’s customary duration limit is seven years.

The seven-year lookback rule

Per the FCRA, conducting a background check cannot include adverse information older than seven years. These items include tax liens, accounts in collections, civil suits or related judgments, and especially arrest records. Therefore, the most common lookback period across the country is seven years. All employers must follow this rule because the FCRA is a federal law. 

Criminal history and the FCRA

While it addresses arrests, the FCRA has no rules that restrict criminal convictions on a background check. Based on the FCRA alone, misdemeanors and felonies can be reported on criminal background checks while they remain on an individual’s record.

State regulations

While the FCRA does not limit how far back in time employers can review their candidates’ criminal histories, this law is not the only relevant regulation.

Many states have their own laws about how long adverse information can appear on reports. These laws frequently prohibit background check companies from reporting criminal information (including convictions) older than seven years at the time of the check.

Keep in mind that these states currently restrict the lookback periods for criminal checks:

Even if employers can look back as far as they want into a prospectie employee’s criminal history, older convictions may not always weigh as heavily as more recent crimes. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission encourages employers to consider the time since a conviction as part of their procedures. 

Employers should also remember that their state’s history restrictions may not be limited to time. For instance, many states prohibit employers from considering non-conviction arrests. An arrest without a conviction is not an indicator of guilt and cannot be a disqualifying factor. 

Ten states (Arizona, California, Hawaii, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Montana, New York, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin) ban employers from considering arrest records. Five others (Georgia, Maryland, New Jersey, Washington, and Texas) restrict employers from using arrest records for employment decisions in certain situations, such as if the candidate was arrested but is a first-time offender (Georgia).

Read our white paper about employment criminal checks and arrest records for a more detailed overview of these laws and to understand legislative restrictions on how far background checks go.