[d2049]

Is it lawful for an employer to factor in criminal history when choosing employees? Asking for my own education.

[austin-cheney]

Absolutely. Criminal history is a valid and lawful criteria of discrimination. The tolerance varies by industry. For example the finance industry will have 0 tolerance.

[pseudo0]

It depends on the state. Some have "ban the box" laws that prohibit asking about convictions until a conditional job offer has been extended. Given that (unexpunged) convictions are public record though, it's pretty easy for them to find out if they bother to run a check and decide another candidate is a better fit.

[deprecative]

To add on one anecdotal data point, I've never worked anywhere that didn't do a criminal background check. If you have a public record expect that everyone you work with knows.