Can employers find about their employees criminal records?
Can employers find out about their employees' criminal records? My understanding is that the only way would be to ask the employee to bring the report from the police. Would that be correct? Thanks.
Lawline svarar
Hi and thank you for contacting Lawline with your question.
According to the law about criminal records an individual person is entitled to receive all information from the register on his own behalf on request. The information shall be provided without charge once a calender year.
For some job applications there are legal requirements to request a registry extract. For example, an employer must request a limited registry extract before hiring someone to work in shool or childcare. The limited registry extract shows whether the jobseeker is convicted of sex offences and some violent crimes. Such registry extract shall be provided without charge.
Some swedish authorities and courts have direct access to the criminal records for law enforcement, driving licenses and approval of staff at security companies.
The answer to your question is, as you assumed, that an employer usually can not find out about their employees criminal records. In normal cases the employer has to ask the employee to bring the report from the police. It is voluntary to leave the registry extract, although if you refuse there is a risk that the employer won't hire you.
You can read more about the rules in lag (1998:620) om belastningsregister and förordning (1999:1134) om belastningsregister. Unfortunately I can not find and english translation of the laws for you.
I hope you're satisfied with the answer!
Sincerely,
