Background Check California: Laws, What Shows Up, and How to Clear Your Record

California background checks show criminal history, credit data, education records, and other public details under strict screening laws. Options such as expungement, pardons, and record sealing may remove damaging entries from your personal background file.

By Douglas Wade, Attorney

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Table of Contents

Introduction

1. Background check: What is it?

2. What information is brought out during a background check in California?

3. Sources for Background Checks in California

4. Is it legal to conduct a background check in California?

5. How do I remove unfavorable material from my personal record?

6. In California, how can I look up my criminal history?

Introduction

California background check is the procedure of an employer or any other business checking your felony and misdemeanor convictions, negative credit report elements, education record, and other available for public information.

In California, background checks are permitted. However, businesses must follow a number of guidelines and requirements outlined in:

Ban the box regulation (also known as the “Fair Chance Act”) in California,
The Fair Chance laws in San Francisco and Los Angeles,
The FCRA, or Fair Credit Reporting Act,
The Information Privacy Act, and
Legislation that prohibits discrimination.

If some information that is not favorable to you is found in a California background check, then you have options to remove it, including:

Expungements,
Rehabilitation Certificates,
Governor’s pardons,
Deleting records of juveniles, and
Petitions that factual innocence be determined.

1. Background check: What is it?

A background check is the procedure of information collection that employers or other companies use in order to obtain information about your past. This involves obtaining details regarding your criminal background.

Companies are often utilizing what they call “investigative reporting organizations” or third parties to do their background checks.

2. What information is brought out during a background check in California?

Several pieces of personal data may be revealed during a background check in California. These consist of:

Prior convictions for crimes (including felonies and misdemeanors) that occurred within seven years of the check date,
Adverse data found on a consumer credit report,
Information on workers’ compensation,
Schools you’ve attended (together with the years you went),
Adverse housing data, including past expulsions, and
Military data (including service dates, ranks, assignments, and honors)

Regarding criminal history data, it is illegal for an employer or business to get data on:

A conviction-free arrest (except when the arrest is still pending),
Over seven years after the check date, a conviction
A conviction that was pardoned for you,
The conclusion of an acceptable diversion program following an arrest,
Convictions that were sealed and erased, and
Some marijuana-related offenses

References

References may also be contacted by an employer or business as part of a background investigation. Usually, these individuals consist of:

Job-related coworkers or past employers,
Family members and friends,
Associates,
Neighbors, or
Role models/mentors.

These individuals will typically give you information on your:

Reputation,
Character,
Personality traits,
Work ethic, and
General behavior and attitude.

The California Seven-Year Rule

In California, employers can only ask for a criminal record check covering the last seven years (with few exclusions) following a conditional job offer.

Employers are therefore unable to view convictions that are more than 7 years old and are unable to reject you because of them.

3. Sources for Background Checks in California

During a background check, the following data is gathered from non-criminal and criminal justice sources:

Court records, arrest and criminal records,
Information from consumer reporting organizations about credit,
Workers’ compensation documents,
References,
Academic records,
History of the tenancy,
DMV records for vehicle registration and driving,
Immigration documentation,
Reports of insurance claims,
Registries for sexual offenders,
Records from Social Security, and
State license files.

It is not necessary for background checks to get data from each of these sources.

Additionally, there may be restrictions on the kinds of data that can be extracted from such sources due to California legislation. For instance, restrictions pertaining to criminal records are listed in Section 2 above.

California law places stringent restrictions on medical history in order to safeguard the privacy of your medical information. The majority of companies can only learn about your capacity to carry out particular job duties.

4. Is it legal to conduct a background check in California?

Yes, a background check in California is usually legal. However, when businesses do them for reasons related to employment, California law places a number of limitations and requirements on them. A few of these can be located in:

The ban-the-box law in California,
The fair chance regulations in San Francisco and Los Angeles,
The FCRA, or Fair Credit Reporting Act,
Information Privacy Act of California, and
Legislation that prohibits discrimination.

Below, we address each of them.

A. The ban-the-box law in California

Employers in California with 5 or more workers are only permitted to inquire about the criminal past after extending a conditional job offer.

A hiring manager cannot automatically reject you if they find out about prior criminal convictions. Instead, the employer must do a customized evaluation and take into account elements like:

Whether the particular responsibilities of your employment are negatively impacted by your criminal background,
The seriousness and type of the behavior or infraction,
The amount of time that has elapsed since the crime occurred or the sentence’s fulfillment, and
The type of work held or desired.

An employer can deny you after conducting this assessment as long as it is based on business necessity. If it does, it must send you a notice of this preliminary decision.

You have 5 business days or more to reply to this notification with proof of your rehabilitation and any relevant mitigating circumstances. Having finished a rehabilitation program and doing community service are two examples.

If someone responds, the employer has to take it into account. In light of this, the employer has two options: employ you or reject you based on information about your criminal history.

B. The Fair Chance regulations in San Francisco and Los Angeles

The ban-the-box statute was preceded by “fair chance” regulations in San Francisco and Los Angeles. They permit you to present employers with positive proof of your character in the event that they decide not to employ you due to your criminal record, much like the ban-the-box statute.

Because the ban-the-box law gives you more protection, these cities have changed their ordinances to comply with the regulations.

C. The FCRA, or Fair Credit Reporting Act

Employers are subject to two requirements under the FCRA. Employers are required to:

Obtain your signed approval prior to performing a criminal background investigation on you and

Notify you in the event that employment is denied due to information found in the screening process.

Only employers who engage an outside agency to perform their background checks are subject to the FCRA. If an employer does this check internally, they are exempt from the FCRA.

D. Information Privacy Act of California

Numerous laws found in the Fair Credit Reporting Act (Federal) are also outlined in the California legislation known as CIPA. For instance, according to CIPA, companies must obtain your permission before running a criminal history check.

Employers who do internal background checks are required to:

Provide a report regarding this check for you to view, and

If you choose to use this option, give you a duplicate of the report.

Legislation that prohibits discrimination

California companies are prohibited by state and federal laws from treating you unfairly on the grounds of race, sexual orientation, and ethnicity.

Therefore, if California companies adopt a policy of rejecting all candidates with a criminal background, they may face consequences.

This is because, compared to other races, Latinos and African Americans have greater rates of arrests & convictions. A broad policy of exclusions may therefore seem discriminatory.

5. How do I remove unfavorable material from my personal record?

To reduce the impact of a background check in California, consider legal remedies. Adverse information that could come up during a background check in California can be cleared up in a number of ways. Among them are:

Expungements,
Rehabilitation Certificates,
Governor’s pardons,
Deleting records of juveniles,
Petitions that factual innocence be determined
Automated record sealing.

A. Expungements

You can avoid the negative effects of a felony or misdemeanor conviction by having your record expunged.

1203.4 PC lays out California’s expungement laws. Another name for expungements is “dismissals.”

You are eligible for an expungement of your criminal conviction if you effectively finish a jail sentence or probation, whichever is applicable.

Even if you break a probationary period, the offense may still be wiped. However, the judge would have discretion over this.

You are not required to inform prospective employers about your conviction if it has been expunged. Even in the event of a conditional job offer, this remains true.

B. Rehabilitation Certificates

A California court’s ruling stating that you were successfully rehabilitated after a criminal conviction is known as a COR (Certificate of Rehabilitation).

Generally speaking, you can get a COR if you were found guilty of:

A felony & sent to a state prison or agency, or
A crime received a probationary term, and had their conviction expunged, or
A conviction for a misdemeanor sexual offense under 290 PC that was expunged.

You also need to have:

Lived for a minimum of five years in California, and
Stayed rehabilitated (out of problems) for a further two to five years after being released from custody, a probationary period, or parole.

A conviction is not erased by a Certificate of Rehabilitation. However, if an employer chooses to reject you, you can present proof of rehabilitation in accordance with the ban-the-box statute.

C. Governor’s pardons

If you’ve been rehabilitated, you can receive a California governor’s amnesty. Numerous consequences linked to a criminal conviction are alleviated.

It is illegal for an employer or business to obtain information regarding a pardoned offense, as previously said.

Almost all of those convicted of a crime in California are qualified to receive a pardon after completing rehabilitation. The time frame given as per the offense can vary from 7 to 10 years.

The California governor may pardon someone in one of three ways:

Submit a superior court Certificate of Rehabilitation,
Submit a direct application to the governor, or
Get the California Board of Parole Hearings to recommend your pardon (if you are incarcerated at the time).

D. Sealing of juvenile records

The California law that enables your juvenile records to be sealed is Welfare & Institutions Code 781 WIC.

When these records are “sealed,” the judge seals your file. Following that, all records within are obliterated and cease to be considered public records.

As a result, the background check in California will not reveal any previous juvenile crime. You may also pretend not to have a criminal record.

To be able to seek the subsequent sealing of your juvenile files, the following must be met:

You are eighteen years of age or older, or it has been five years since the juvenile court’s authority ended.
Being an adult, you have never been found guilty of a crime requiring moral turpitude, and
Since turning, you have never been found guilty of any significant crimes in juvenile court (such as robbery, torture, or murder).

E. Petition to Determine Factual Innocence

After an arrest, you can file a petition seeking a certificate of factual innocence under California’s 851.8 PC. A winning petition demonstrates that there was insufficient evidence to suspect you of committing a crime.

Your records of arrest must be sealed for three years by the law-enforcing agency with jurisdiction for the offense if your petition is approved. Both the petition and the documents get thrown away after this period.

They won’t appear on the background check in California once the records have been sealed. You might also claim that you have no criminal background.

You can submit a petition in the following situations:

Although you were not formally arrested for an act, you were taken into custody by the state or local police.
You have been detained for a crime but not charged, you were charged with a crime but the charge was later withdrawn, or
Despite being officially charged for an act and put on trial, you were not found guilty.

F. Automated record sealing

The majority of convictions and arrest records will be automatically cleansed by a procedure known as “automatic relief” as of July 1, 2023, following the approval of Senate Bill 731 & Assembly Bill 1076, also known as the Clean Slate Act.

If no criminal proceedings are brought against an arrest, it gets sealed after 1 year for misdemeanors and after 3 years for felonies.
If charges are dismissed, they should be dropped immediately.
Upon the conclusion of the case, convictions in which the judge awarded probation ought to be cleared.
If not, convictions for misdemeanors should be expunged a year after the case is over, and convictions for felonies should be expunged 4 years after the case is over. (This excludes severe, serious, and sex offender offenses.)

6. In California, how can I look up my criminal history?

If you live in California, you can obtain your criminal history by:

Filling out a form BCIA 8016RR,
Having your fingerprints taken at one of the Live Scan sites, and
Filing a $25 fee with the Department of Justice in California.

If you don’t live in California, you can obtain your criminal history by:

Filling out form BCIA 8705,
Being fingerprinted (your complete name, birth date, sex, and returning mailing address must be displayed on the fingerprint card),
Sending the Department of Justice (California) a $25 money order, certified check, or personal check, and
Sending the aforementioned documents to the relevant address of the Department of Justice- California.

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Background Check California: Laws, What Shows Up, and How to Clear Your Record

Introduction

1. Background check: What is it?

2. What information is brought out during a background check in California?

3. Sources for Background Checks in California

4. Is it legal to conduct a background check in California?

5. How do I remove unfavorable material from my personal record?

6. In California, how can I look up my criminal history?

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