Employees are an integral part of a company's business. And this is why before hiring an individual for a job position, companies deem it important to conduct a thorough background check on that person, which includes his personal history, criminal records, past employment, and the like.

Criminal records, especially, are important pieces of information that any organization, business or otherwise, would like to know about. The information that they get from criminal records helps them judge the character of the person and find out if he is suitable for the job, based on the people he would be involving himself in with such a position. For instance, if the person being considered for a position as a child care assistant has criminal records involving child molestation, then the company will be better off with the forehand knowledge.

So basically, criminal records are the central register of police. Most of the time, they only contain prison punishments, or incidents of a crime where the result is imprisonment for a certain period of time. The data contained in criminal records is used for criminal sanctions and also to figure out the reliability of a person. This is where companies needing copies of criminal records come in.

Criminal records are established when a person gets the following penalty:

Suspended sentence or unconditional sentence of imprisonment - This often happens when, unless a minimum punishment is prescribed by law, the court has the power to suspend the passing of sentence. Generally, suspension of sentence stretches for a period of three years, during which time the offender is placed on probation.

Community service - This refers to a service performed by a person for the benefit of his or her local community. Often, community service is performed in connection with projects that members of certain youth organizations, such as the Boy Scouts, perform. However, community service may also be used as an alternative sentencing technique in the justice system.

Youth Punishment - This happens when the one who committed the crime is a minor. In this case, the offender is sentenced to spend some time in a juvenile correction facility. Also, youth punishments may involve rendering some service for the benefit of his or her local community. In either case, criminal records would still have been established.

Fine - Instead of spending time in prison, the offender is sentenced to pay a certain amount as set by the court.

Removal from office

Mental Disorder - In some cases, the offender is left without punishment for the reason that the court has found him or her not criminally responsible due to a mental disorder.