Positive adjudication matrix: Reduce bias and increase efficiency

Positive adjudication

Adjudication is a process in which a company reviews background check results against the company’s standards to make an assessment on whether to hire the candidate.

Checkr’s software-based adjudication matrix allows you to define which types of charges you want to display on your background checks. Charges can be filtered by charge severity (misdemeanor vs. felony), dismissal status, and time elapsed since disposition date. For example, you can:

Hide or remove misdemeanor offenses in certain categories
Hide or remove any offense that isn't relevant to the job duty
Hide or remove dismissed records, even in states where they're reportable
Hide or remove offenses that occurred further in the past

Filtered records will be moved to a separate section in the report, or can be hidden entirely.

Use this matrix

Adjudication is a manual, time-intensive process that might subject you to legal risk if done inconsistently. Checkr’s Positive Adjudication Matrix (“PAM”) automates much of the adjudication process, saving you time and reducing your compliance risk, while also resulting in fairer hiring practices.

In fact, companies using Checkr’s Positive Adjudication Matrix have reduced manual report review work by up to 40%.

Many background check companies hire agents, sometimes offshore, to manually compare a client’s custom matrix to each case being adjudicated. This process is manual, time-consuming (4 – 12 business hours per candidate), and error-prone.

Counties have different methods of reporting offenses, so you might see many different ways to report the same offense. This lack of standardization of charge types across jurisdictions can lead to adjudication errors and make it difficult to make the right assessment.

The Positive Adjudication Matrix has three main benefits:

Lower costs: Lowers your adjudication personnel cost because fewer reports require review
Faster onboarding: Reduces candidate onboarding time because fewer reports require manual review
Lower compliance risk: Removes bias from the adjudication process and enables a more consistent and compliant hiring process

Decide what to filter

By default, Checkr reports all offenses within your packages that are legally permissible (in other words, records that haven’t been expunged or records that are reportable under state or federal laws).

Some states, such as California, don't allow reporting of any dismissals, but for states with no such restrictions, Checkr will, by default, report dispositions including convictions, dismissals, warrants, or pending cases.

Consider two factors when deciding what to filter: efficiency and compliance. Fortunately, these two often provide a win-win situation for your adjudication team and candidates.

Efficiency

If you don’t include any filters for positive adjudication, reports will have the Consider status if they include offenses that you’ve decided are irrelevant to your decision-making process. Ultimately you would still engage these candidates because the offenses are irrelevant to the job duties or too far in the past.

As a result, your adjudication team will spend unnecessary time reviewing reports with minor and irrelevant offenses, and you might lose employable candidates in the process (which could also open you up to legal and compliance risk). Instead, we recommend that you create filters in the Positive Adjudication Matrix to automatically apply the Clear status for candidates with these irrelevant offenses.

Candidates with statutory violations (like fish and game violations) or minor traffic offenses might have the Consider status if you don’t filter them using the Positive Adjudication Matrix. These offenses are usually irrelevant to most job duties.

Compliance

In 2012, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) issued guidelines interpreting Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. These guidelines advise employers to consider the specifics of each candidate who might be denied employment based on a background check.

Namely, you should consider:

The nature and gravity of the offense or conduct
The time that has passed since the offense, conduct and/or completion of the sentence
The nature of the job held or sought

You're also encouraged to consider other factors such as the number of offenses, employment history before and after the offense, rehabilitation efforts, and other circumstances.

Enable the matrix

To enable the matrix, first contact your Checkr Customer Success Representative to enable it for your account. Then, go to Screenings settings > Adjudication matrix, and click Get Started in the dialog that appears.

Once enabled, click Edit to configure your matrix, or click PDF to download a PDF of your customized configuration to share with others on your team.

Define filters

In the spirit of individualized assessment, the Positive Adjudication Matrix lets you filter offenses by category, severity, age, and disposition.

Category: The Positive Adjudication Matrix groups related offenses into categories so that you can consistently apply job-related adjudication criteria to similar crimes. Offenses are grouped based on independent research, as well as feedback from employers and end users. Checkr built the matrix using groups of crimes that are consistently treated the same way.
Severity: The Positive Adjudication Matrix divides offenses by severity level: misdemeanors (including infractions, citations, and other minor offenses) and felonies. Consideration of the severity of a crime is an essential component to individualized assessment, so you may want to treat less severe crimes differently than more severe charges within the same category.
Time Since Disposition: To comply with the EEOC guidance on time that has passed since the offense, you may want to filter out less recent offenses.
Disposition: Many employers/end users choose not to show dismissed records because they don’t consider dismissed records to be an accurate reflection of one’s criminal history for employment purposes.

Note

Filters are applied only to National Criminal Checks, County Criminal Checks, and State Criminal Checks.

Without any filters, you would see relatively minor offenses such as petty theft or DUI from years ago, and generally you should consider the nature and age of the offense. You can choose to age-limit these types of offenses to shape an overall background check policy that is compliant with Title VII and comparable state employment laws.

Note

Staffing companies with multiple clients, or companies who adjudicate different role types with different criteria, can set different adjudication filters for each client or role by creating different adjudication matrices for each account hierarchy node or program.

Checkr's guidance should not be construed as legal advice, guidance, or counsel. Companies should consult their own legal counsel about their compliance responsibilities under the FCRA, Title VII, and applicable state laws. Checkr expressly disclaims any warranties or responsibility or damages associated with or arising out of information provided.