Human Resource Blog

Sex Offender

I have a plant operating in the state of Georgia. I have an employee who is currently working in a warehouse position who is looking to become a delivery driver. Upon a background check it was found that this employee is a registered sex offender. Is there any laws in regards to this. I do not feel this is good move but need to know legally how to cover ourselves.

This is the purpose of background checks. It is reasonable for you to not hire delivery drivers who are sex offenders, especially if your delivery drivers interact with clients. In many industries, the delivery driver represents the company to the clients. Also be aware that you would be legally and morally responsible for this persons conduct while he was on the job — so you are more than justified in not promoting this individual.

It is also highly likely that your insurance company would not cover a driver with this history, or would charge a higher rate to cover a driver who has been convicted of a crime.

You can simply tell the employee that based on his background check, he does not have the qualifications you are looking for in a delivery driver.

If this employee told you the truth on his application about his prior conviction for a sex crime, then you may want to keep him as an employee. This is especially true if the warehouse is a controlled environment where you can keep a close eye on this employee. (If he lied on his job application, then you may want to let the employee go for lying.)

In a few states such as Wisconsin and New York it is illegal to discriminate against an applicant based on convictions that are not job-related. However, in Georgia and most other states, you can legally consider past convictions in making employment decisions.

If you value this employee and he has done a good job in the past, you can tell him that in the future he would be considered for jobs that do not involve contact with the public, such as warehouse supervisor.