Ard Barends

Research demonstrates that more than half of job applicants are asked whether they have a criminal record at some point during the selection process, and the use of criminal background checks is ever growing. Given the many restrictions they face on the jo market, this suggests ample and convincing proof that people with a criminal pas make poor employees. However, a synthesis of the relevant empirical research on this topic is lacking. Therefore, the current systematic literature review attempts to give an overview of research investigating whether people with criminal records differ from those without such criminal records in their on-the-job behaviors, such as task performance, counterproductive work behavior, and turnover. The relatively scarce literature on the topic seems to suggest that a criminal history is positively related to counterproductive work behavior, unrelated to task performance, and negatively related to turnover. The results of this systematic literature review allow for a critical reflection on the current steep rise in criminal record checks, as well as policy initiates like Ban-the-Box, in order to increase successful employment outcomes for both employer and employee. Above all, they manifest the need for more research that allows for an accurate view of how employees with a criminal record behave on the job.