What Shows Up on an Employment Background Check, and How Far Back It Goes

The law defines the report by who sells it and what it is used for, not by a list of components. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) summary of consumer rights says the FCRA covers reports from “credit bureaus and specialty agencies” and any consumer report used for employment⁴. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) likewise describe the notice and authorization steps as attaching to the report an employer procures, not to a list of contents⁵.

Services that sell the reports describe their own packages. The site earns a commission on some links to payroll and HR services, which does not affect what is described. As of October 2026 Checkr lists a Basic package at $29.99 per report (a Social Security number trace, a sex offender registry search, a global watchlist search and a national criminal search), an Essential package at $59.99 (adding identity verification and an unlimited county criminal search), and a Complete package at $94.99 (adding an unlimited state criminal search and a federal criminal search)¹². GoodHire lists packages with the same three names and contents, “starting from” $29.99, $59.99 and $94.99 per check¹³. Both pages say third-party court and database fees may be added.

Those are two companies’ product lists, not a legal definition, and an employer decides what to order. Neither pricing page describes the employer’s duties under the FCRA; those come from the statute: the disclosure, the authorization and the notice before any adverse action are the employer’s to carry out, whichever service runs the search². An employer that buys a report has not, by buying it, completed any of those steps.

Section 1681c of the FCRA lists what a consumer reporting agency may not report³:

The CFPB’s plain-language version says a reporting agency may not report negative information more than seven years old, or bankruptcies more than 10 years old, “in most cases”⁴. The words “in most cases” matter, because of the salary exception.

Good to know The age limits in the first five categories do not apply to a report used for the employment of a person at an annual salary that “equals, or which may reasonably be expected to equal $75,000, or more”³. For those jobs, a 12-year-old judgment can be reported.

Federal law is silent on how long a conviction can stay on a report, but it is not silent on how an employer may use one. The EEOC’s guidance says an arrest “does not establish that criminal conduct has occurred,” and that an employer weighing a conviction looks at the nature and gravity of the offense, the time since it, and the nature of the job⁶.

California has a parallel law for “investigative” reports, the Investigative Consumer Reporting Agencies Act (Civil Code section 1786 and following). An investigative consumer reporting agency may not report⁸:

• bankruptcies more than 10 years after the order for relief;
• suits and judgments more than 7 years old (7 years from entry for judgments);
• paid tax liens and collection accounts more than 7 years old;
• criminal-record items (arrest, indictment, information, misdemeanor complaint and conviction) more than 7 years after disposition, release or parole;
• records of a full pardon, and of an arrest or charge that did not result in a conviction;
• any other adverse information more than 7 years old, and medical debt as Civil Code section 1785.3 defines it.

Pending matters awaiting judgment may still be reported⁸. Section 1786.18 lists two exceptions, for certain life insurance of roughly $250,000 or more and for employer reports where a government regulatory agency requires a check for otherwise barred records; public-record items about arrests, convictions, civil actions, tax liens or judgments must generally be verified within 30 days before the report is furnished⁸.

For an investigative report on a job candidate, the employer needs a permissible purpose, a stand-alone written disclosure that names the agency and describes the scope of the investigation, and written authorization. The candidate must be offered a box to check to request a copy, and if it is checked the copy goes out within three business days after the recipient receives the report⁷. These copy rules do not apply to reports based on suspicion of wrongdoing or misconduct⁷.

Good to know Three different seven-year rules exist and they are not the same rule. The federal limit has no cutoff for convictions³. The California investigative-report limit applies to what an agency may report⁸. The Civil Rights Department’s fact sheet lists conviction history over seven years old as off limits to an employer after a conditional offer¹¹. The third is covered on The California Fair Chance Act.

An employment credit report is a consumer report and needs the same disclosure and authorization². California’s Labor Code section 1024.5 says an employer “shall not use a consumer credit report for employment purposes unless” the position is one of eight kinds: managerial positions; positions in the state Department of Justice; sworn peace officer or other law enforcement positions; positions where the law requires the information to be obtained; positions with regular access to one person’s bank or credit card account information, Social Security number and date of birth; a named signatory on the employer’s bank or credit card account, or someone authorized to transfer money or enter financial contracts for the employer; positions with access to confidential or proprietary information such as trade secrets; and positions with regular access to $10,000 or more in cash of the employer, a customer or a client during the workday⁹.

When a credit report is used, Civil Code section 1785.20.5 requires written notice before the report is requested, citing the specific basis under section 1024.5, with a checkbox to receive a copy at the same time and at no charge¹⁰.

A report is not the employer’s decision. Under the FCRA, an employer that intends to reject someone based on the report must first give the person a copy of it and a written description of rights². The step-by-step version, with a response letter, is on Pre-Adverse Action Notice: What the Employer Must Send You. A report is also not necessarily correct: a person may dispute inaccurate or incomplete information with the reporting agency, which “must be removed or corrected, usually within 30 days” if it is inaccurate, incomplete or unverifiable⁴. That process is on How to Dispute a Background Check Error.