Review and set Assess Premium rules

Assess helps you adopt predefined fairness and compliance rules that align with best practices and Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) guidance for considering criminal records. These rules apply to all records.

Records that searches find in the categories you select have the Eligible status.

Fairness and compliance rules have 4 sections:

Conviction status

• 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 7 years. Many states further restrict reporting by consumer reporting agencies (CRAs) and use by employers.
• 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 7 years. Some states further restrict reporting by CRAs and use by employers.

Record severity & timing

• 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 7 years where reportable.
• Non-felony records older than 7 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 7 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 7 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 7 years.
• All records older than 7 years
  • This category focuses on the time that has passed since the record. Records older than 7 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 7 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 7 years from the record’s disposition, parole, or prison release date.

Charge type

• 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 7 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 7 years from the record filing date. Convictions are reportable indefinitely. State, city, and county laws might further restrict reportability.

• 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

• 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

• Prostitution
  • This category labels the records below as Eligible:
    • Promoting prostitution
    • Prostitution
    • Soliciting a prostitute
  • This category excludes prostitution involving a minor.
• 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 details

• 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.

Custom rules apply across all record categories and can include variables such as the ones below:

• Candidate’s age at disposition
• Number of offenses
• Record age

Custom rules can include multiple conditions. All conditions must be true to apply a rule.

A lookback period is how many years have passed since the record's most recent event, called the context date. Setting lookback period rules is similar to setting an "age limit" for each of 235 charge categories. By default, all charge categories appear as Review for your defined lookback periods. You can customize your rules by the age of the record as well as the record type in each category.

Lookback period rule example

Use the guidelines below to enter lookback periods for records:

• Records appear as Eligible if they happened longer ago than the number of years you enter in the Eligible column. To assess a charge as always Eligible, enter 0 in the Eligible column.
• Records appear as Escalated if they happened within the number of years you enter in the Escalated column. To assess a charge as always Escalated, enter 99 in the Escalated column.
• All records between the Eligible and Escalated numbers appear as Review.
• Any row with no assigned lookback period defaults to Review.

For example: Enter 7 in the Eligible column and 2 in the Escalated column to achieve the result below:

Select the record type to read a description. These descriptions aren't specific legal or statutory definitions for the crimes. Checkr recommends assigning lookback periods for each record category.

Define rules based on how frequently a candidate's history includes a selected record type. These rules apply across categories and other rule types. Repeated records rules apply after other rules and can change a record's assessment to require additional review.

Repeated records rule example

For example, you might set the 2 rules below:

• A lookback period rule marks speeding offenses older than 4 years as Eligible.
• A "Count is more than 3" rule marks 4 or more speeding records as Review.

If a candidate has 3 speeding records older than 4 years, the records are Eligible. If instead that candidate has 4 speeding records of any age, all 4 records are Review.