An employment policy frequently applied by employers in the security services industry is to deny employment to a person convicted of a felony. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) agrees with the policy but only to a certain extent. The EEOC says it is appropriate for an employer to deny a job to an applicant who has been convicted of a felony, such as when the job involves operation of a motor vehicle and the applicant has been convicted of driving under the influence. However, if the job in question does not involve operation of a motor vehicle, the applicant should be eligible for consideration for a different vacant position such as store clerk. In this case, “should be considered” means that the applicant must be given the opportunity to compete with other applicants for the store clerk job.
In the security services industry, there is one category of felony crimes that cannot be ignored: crimes of violence. The EEOC has not issued a guideline concerning this issue.