Effects of the new “Criminal Record law and Returning Regulations” on the manner of conducting security interviews and pre-employment polygraph testing in Israel

in July 2022, the new “Criminal Record law and Returning Regulations” came into force, and limits the potential employer’s ability to be exposed to information that exists in the candidates criminal record or that existed there in the past .

The new law states that taking into account “criminal record information” as defined in the Criminal Record Law and the Returning regulations 2019 or “additional information” concerning the criminal record, when making a decision regarding employment, constitutes a criminal offense.
Businesses in all fields of activity have always been exposed to the threat of embezzlement or fraud by employees or by other external prepertators .
Due to this risk , security managers should take part and be involved in the recruitment process of new job candidates, by conducting security interviews combined with background checks and with integrity / reliability tests of various types including: computerized integrity / reliability tests , or pre-employment polygraph testing .
The new law has a significant impact on the way in which these security interviews are conducted, and the type of questions that are asked during the computerized reliability tests or polygraph tests, which in light of the new law should exclude subjects on which the candidate was interrogated / questioned about by an official criminal investigations unit .

Here are some recommended guidelines to follow :

•  the candidate must be warned at the beginning of the interview or test that the issues that will be discussed will not include information regarding criminal records or about events / acts that the candidate was questioned about by the state criminal authoritis and that such information will not be taken in consideration when giving the final recommendation as for the hiring process.
•  it is recommended to record the interview and if the candidate fills out a questionnaire during it or signs a consent form – make sure that the mentioned warning appears there in clear form .
•  refer to the candidates family members and their places of employment, to make sure that none of them are employed in the organization the candidate applied to work for and also that they are not employed by a competitive company .
•  refer to previous employment, former employers in chronological order , period of employment , position , reason for termination of employment there , name and phone number of direct manager and of recommenders.
•  it is possible to ask after referring to prior employment – if the candidate was ever suspected of theft / embezzlement / dishonesty at work (make clear thet the answer should only refer to things that the candidate was not questioned about by the police or charged for in criminal court) .
•  referrals / recommenders from previous workplaces sometimes have crucial information regarding the candidate, do not hesitate to contact them and ask about him / her , also dont hesitate to contact the security managers of priour work places to make sure there were no trust issues and to verify the data that was given by the candidate as for the reason of termination . in many cases calling a former employer brings up information that the candidate tried to hide (and that was not transferred to the police for investigation).
•  refer to civil lawsuits, whether the candidate was ever a party to any civil lawsuit (make sure to clarify that you are not asking about criminal trials)
• refer to candidate’s financial state, are there debts / foreclosures / grey market loans / gambling / does the candidate have an active bank account ?
• refer to drugs – does the candidate use drugs ? if so – what type and how often ? did he use drugs during working hours ? (make sure to clarify that you are not asking about incidents that were questioned about by the police)

Typical polygraph questions that are frequently asked during pre-employment polygraph tests:

• Have you committed a serious criminal act without being questioned about it by the police?
• Have you collaborated with a client or vendor to defraud your employer without being questioned about it by the police?
• Have you been terminated from prior job due to being suspected of fraud or theft without being questioned about it by the police?
• Have you stolen money from your workplace without being questioned about it by the police?
• Have you stolen a valuable item from your workplace without being questioned about it by the police?
• Did you cooperate with another employee in stealing from your workplace without being questioned aout it by the police?
• Have you been sent to apply for this job by a competitor or by criminals?
• Have you used drugs without being questioned about it by the police?

In conclusion, the new “Criminal Record law and Returning Regulations” establishes clear restrictions and prohibits employers from being exposed to criminal records information with regards to a job applicant.
making proper adjustments in the way the security interview is conducted or in which the credibility / pre-employment polygraph tests are performed allows to properly screen the job applicants without being in danger of performing a criminal offense.