Assess Standard compares your guidelines to state or county criminal records in a candidate's report. Assess Standard then assigns your eligibility status to each individual record. You can set two types of guidelines: templated and lookback period.
Review Assess Standard guidelines
Quickstart templates
Assess Standard helps you with starter guidelines that align with best practices and Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) guidance for considering criminal records. These guidelines apply to all records.
Records that searches find in the categories you select have the Eligible status.
Quickstart templates have four sections:
- Non-convictions
- The record has not resulted in a conviction, possibly for a reason below:
- A jury found the defendant "not guilty."
- The court dismissed the case because of lack of evidence.
- In certain locations, the court ordered deferred or alternative adjudication.
- Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), non-convictions are reportable for up to seven years. Many states further restrict reporting by consumer reporting agencies (CRAs) and use by employers.
- The record has not resulted in a conviction, possibly for a reason below:
- Pending records
- Records with no final disposition, or outcome, will be labeled as Eligible. "Pending" means that the case is ongoing.
- Under the FCRA, pending records are reportable for up to seven years. Some states further restrict reporting by CRAs and use by employers.
- Less-than-misdemeanor severity
- These lowest-level records, such as infractions, typically result in fines.
- These records can result in convictions and non-convictions. These records can appear for up to seven years where reportable.
- Non-felony records older than seven years
- This category focuses on the time that’s passed since the record. Non-felonies will be labeled as Eligible if they’re older than seven years as of the start of the background check.
- These records can result in convictions or non-convictions. The FCRA allows reporting for up to seven years for non-convictions, such as certain dismissed records. Convictions are reportable indefinitely. To help promote employment access, some states restrict the reporting of all records older than seven years.
- All records older than seven years
- This category focuses on the time that has passed since the record. Records older than seven years will be labeled as Eligible.
- These records can result in convictions or non-convictions. Under the FCRA, non-convictions are reportable for up to seven years from the record filing date. Convictions are reportable indefinitely. To help promote employment access, some states restrict the reporting of all records older than seven years from the record’s disposition, parole, or prison release date.
- Non-felony marijuana possession
- As more states legalize marijuana use, several states and cities have started lowering employment barriers for people with low-level marijuana convictions.
- Marijuana possession can result in either a conviction or non-conviction. Under the FCRA, non-convictions are reportable for up to seven years from the record filing date. Convictions are reportable indefinitely.
- Non-felony drug possession and paraphernalia
- This category combines severity and the drug categories below. If the severity is lower than a felony, these categories will be labeled as Eligible.
- Possession
- Intent to possess
- Possession of paraphernalia
- Possession without prescription
- These records can result in convictions or non-convictions. Under the FCRA, non-convictions are reportable for up to seven years from the record filing date. Convictions are reportable indefinitely. State, city, and county laws might further restrict reportability.
- This category combines severity and the drug categories below. If the severity is lower than a felony, these categories will be labeled as Eligible.
- Vehicle and traffic events not resulting in death or DUI
- This category includes all records in the categories below and assesses them as Eligible:
- License & registration
- Parking
- Speeding
- Unsafe operation
- Vehicle equipment
- This category excludes all records in the categories below:
- Driving under the influence
- Hit & run causing death
- Reckless driving causing death
- This category includes all records in the categories below and assesses them as Eligible:
- Public nuisance
- This category labels the records below as Eligible:
- Disorderly conduct
- Littering
- Loitering
- Maintaining a disorderly house
- Noise ordinance violation
- Obstructing a passageway
- Public urination
- Unlawful storage
- This category labels the records below as Eligible:
- Prostitution
- This category labels the records below as Eligible:
- Promoting prostitution
- Prostitution
- Soliciting a prostitute
- This category excludes prostitution involving a minor.
- This category labels the records below as Eligible:
- Checkr's expungement service qualifiers
- This category includes records potentially available for expungement.
- Many states allow for certain offenses, such as marijuana possession, to be removed from public record, or expunged or sealed. However, awareness, cost, and a complex legal process prevent most people from pursuing expungement.
- Candidate age was 18 or younger
- This category focuses on the candidate's age at the time of the record.
- Records from when the person was 18 years old or younger will be labeled as Eligible.
- Candidate was 25 or younger and is now 28 or older
- This category focuses on the candidate's age at the time of the record.
- If the candidate is 28 or older, records from when they were 25 years old or younger will be labeled as Eligible.
Guidelines for lookback period
Guidelines for the lookback period focus on how many years have passed since the record's most recent event, called the "context date." Setting guidelines for the lookback period is similar to setting an "age limit" for each of 55 record categories. You can indicate when you consider the record no longer relevant and want it assessed as Eligible. By default, all record categories appear as Review.
Note
Setting an extended lookback period, such as 99 years, doesn't change the scope of your search.
Use the fields to enter lookback periods for records older than the number of years you enter. More recent records appear as Review. Any cell with no assigned time since record defaults to Review.
Select the record type to read a description. These descriptions vary by state and aren't specific legal or statutory definitions for the crimes. Checkr recommends assigning a guideline for the time since record to each record category.
Set your Assess Standard guidelines
Show or hide Eligible records
You can set the Checkr Dashboard to show or hide records that your guidelines assess as Eligible. The settings below that you enable apply to all assessed records for your account.
-
Display Eligible records: The locations below show records assessed as Eligible:
- Candidate Portal
- Checkr API
- Checkr Dashboard
- Report PDF
-
Conceal Eligible records in the Dashboard: You have to select "Show more" in the Checkr Dashboard to show records with the Eligible status. Records with the Eligible status appear in the locations below:
- Candidate Portal
- Checkr API
- Report PDF
-
Remove Eligible records: No location below shows records assessed as Eligible:
- Candidate Portal
- Checkr API
- Checkr Dashboard
- Report PDF
- Hide records with Assessment "Eligible" from the Pre-Adverse Action modal: When you begin the adverse action process, you can't select records assessed as Eligible to include in the pre-adverse action notice.
- Auto-engage candidates when their report is assessed as "Eligible": Automatically engage candidates whose reports are assessed as Eligible.
Add new Assess Standard guidelines
Assess Standard guides you through adding Checkr-designed quickstart templates.
Select Add to automatically assess those records as Eligible.
Manage guidelines for lookback period
At the bottom of the page, you can use CSV files to download or upload your lookback period guidelines.
To download a blank template, select Download Template.
To download your guidelines as a CSV file, select "Download your guidelines."
After the CSV file downloads, you can edit your existing guidelines by uploading an edited CSV file. All new guidelines you upload overwrite your existing guidelines. To import your CSV file as a new set of guidelines, select "Upload guidelines."
Review previous guidelines
You can review the settings for each published version of your guidelines.
In a guideline, open the menu and select View Versions. A window shows all published versions of the guideline with the user name and publication date.