Schenectady is not one of the cities in New York that bans the box, reports explain. As a result, the city still has questions about criminal history on its job applications. In most cases, those questions are the extent of the city’s criminal history screenings. Candidates are expected to disclose serious convictions and are given the benefit of the doubt if they don’t.
At least, that’s the way things have happened in the past. Going forward, the City of Schenectady wants to revamp is pre-employment screening policies. The Daily Gazette notes that the details of the new background check policy aren’t set in stone yet since the City Council needs to approve it first. Sources indicate that the policy will call for background checks for all prospective hires and will also involve fingerprinting. Full-time employees, part-time employees, and seasonal workers would all be expected to submit to the checks.
The City of Schenectady says that it has been thinking about revisiting its employee screening policies for some time. Per reports, a pair of recent incidents ultimately convinced the city that the changes needed to happen now.
This year, the City of Schenectady has had to fire two employees for failing to disclose serious convictions on their job applications, coverage states. First, in March, the city suspended a building code inspector because he failed to disclose two felony convictions from his past. The convictions—dating back to 1980 and 1985—involved
Second, in July, the city fired an employee in the Waste Department when it came to light that he was registered as a sex offender. The sex
Schenectady’s new background check policy will do away with the
Sources:
https://dailygazette.com/article/2017/09/07/schenectady-to-start-background-checks-on-prospective-hires
https://dailygazette.com/article/2017/03/02/code-inspector-building-manager-indicted-in-fatal-jay-street-fire
https://dailygazette.com/article/2017/03/02/code-inspector-building-manager-indicted-in-fatal-jay-street-fire
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About Michael Klazema The author
Michael Klazema is the lead author and editor for Dallas-based backgroundchecks.com with a focus on human resource and employment screening developments
