A family in Los Angeles called us last month in a panic. They’d run a background check on a private chef candidate they loved, and it came back with something on it. Not something catastrophic, but something. They had no idea if it was disqualifying or not, if they should ask about it or just move on to the next candidate, or whether they were being paranoid or not careful enough. They wanted us to tell them what to do, and honestly, we get versions of this call at least once a week.
Background checks for household staff are weird because they’re simultaneously really important and also really easy to misinterpret. Most families hiring household staff have never had to evaluate a background check before. You might have had one run on you at some point, but actually being on the decision-making side is different. You’re looking at this report full of public records and court filings and you’re trying to figure out what it all means for whether this person should have keys to your house and access to your family.
At Seaside Staffing Company, we run background checks on every single candidate before we’ll represent them, and we’ve reviewed thousands of these reports over the past 20 years. What we’ve learned is that families often panic about things that don’t matter and overlook things that absolutely do matter. So let’s talk about how to actually read these things and what you should be paying attention to when you’re hiring someone to work in your home.
First thing – understand what you’re actually looking at. Most background checks for household employment include criminal records, driving records, credit reports, and sometimes civil court records. Some families also run sex offender registry checks and verify employment history and education. The specific searches you run should match the role you’re filling. If you’re hiring a driver, their driving record obviously matters more than it would for a housekeeper. If you’re hiring someone to manage your finances as part of their role, their credit history is more relevant than it would be for a nanny.
Criminal records are usually what families focus on, and it’s the area where we see the most confusion. Here’s the thing about criminal records – not all crimes are created equal, and context matters enormously. A DUI from 15 years ago when someone was 22 is very different from a DUI from last year. A domestic violence charge is different from a bar fight. Theft is different from drug possession. And the resolution matters just as much as the charge – was it dismissed, were they convicted, did they complete diversion, what actually happened?
We worked with a family in Miami who almost passed on an incredible estate manager because he had an arrest on his record from 18 years prior. The arrest was for marijuana possession when he was 19 years old, the charges were dropped, and it literally never came up again in his entire adult life. But the family saw “arrest” on the background check and got scared. We had to walk them through understanding that this wasn’t predictive of anything about who this person was as a 37-year-old professional with nearly two decades of estate management experience.
On the flip side, we’ve seen families try to rationalize away red flags that absolutely should have stopped them cold. A housekeeper candidate with three theft charges over a five-year period, all from retail settings? That’s not bad luck, that’s a pattern. Someone with multiple restraining orders filed against them by different people? That’s not everyone else being crazy, that’s someone with serious boundary and aggression issues. When you see patterns, believe them. One-time incidents might have context and explanation. Patterns are telling you exactly who someone is.
Here’s what should definitely concern you – anything involving violence, anything involving children, anything involving theft in a private home or from an employer, and anything involving dishonesty like fraud or identity theft. These are core character issues that directly relate to the trust and access you’re giving household staff. We don’t care how great someone’s references are or how perfect they were in the interview – if they’ve got a conviction for abusing a child or stealing from an employer, that’s disqualifying. Full stop. There’s no explanation that makes those things okay for someone who’s going to be in your home with your family and your belongings.
What about things that aren’t directly related to household employment? This is where families need to use judgment. A bankruptcy from six years ago after a medical emergency or divorce? Probably not relevant unless you’re hiring them to manage your household finances. A reckless driving ticket from a decade ago? Probably not a big deal unless you’re hiring a driver and you see a pattern of moving violations. You’re looking for things that indicate character issues around honesty, violence, respect for others’ property, and appropriate boundaries. You’re not looking for someone with a completely clean record who’s never made any mistakes in their entire life, because that person basically doesn’t exist.
Credit reports are interesting because families often don’t know what to do with this information. At Seaside Staffing Company, we think credit reports matter more than a lot of families realize, but not for the reasons you might think. We’re not looking for a perfect credit score. We’re looking for signs of financial desperation or poor judgment that might make someone a theft risk or vulnerable to taking kickbacks from vendors. Someone with a 620 credit score because they have student loans and maybe had a rough patch a few years ago? Not concerning. Someone with multiple recent judgments, maxed-out cards, and accounts in collections who’s applying for a role that involves household purchasing? That’s more concerning because it creates temptation.
The thing about credit reports is that they also show you patterns of responsibility and follow-through. Someone who’s got steady payment history, maybe not perfect but consistent, is showing you that they honor their obligations and manage their life responsibly. Someone with chaos all over their credit report – missed payments, defaults, collections – might be dealing with circumstances beyond their control, or they might just be disorganized and unreliable. You need to ask questions to figure out which one it is.
Driving records matter if someone’s going to be driving for you or driving your kids, obviously. But even if they’re not, we think driving records can tell you something about judgment and respect for rules. Someone with one speeding ticket in the past seven years? Whatever, who cares. Someone with multiple DUIs, reckless driving charges, or a suspended license? That person has serious judgment issues and a pattern of thinking rules don’t apply to them. Do you really want that person managing your home?
Here’s where families mess up the most – they see something on a background check and either automatically disqualify the candidate without asking questions, or they ignore it completely because they like the person and don’t want to have an awkward conversation. Both approaches are wrong. When you see something concerning on a background check, you need to ask the candidate about it directly and evaluate their response.
We had a family in San Francisco who found a criminal charge on their house manager candidate’s background check and just ghosted her instead of asking about it. Turns out it was a case of mistaken identity that she would have explained immediately if they’d asked. She’d already been through the process of getting the record corrected, but it was still showing up on some background check databases. The family missed out on a great candidate because they were too uncomfortable to have a simple conversation.
When you ask about something on a background check, pay attention to how the candidate responds. Are they forthcoming and honest, or are they evasive and defensive? Do they take responsibility for past mistakes, or do they blame everyone else? Do they explain what they learned and how they’ve changed, or do they minimize it and act like it’s not a big deal? A really good candidate will be prepared for this question, will give you a direct answer, and will be able to articulate what they’ve done to ensure it won’t be an issue going forward.
We placed a private chef in Austin who had a DUI from four years prior. When the family asked about it, he said “Yes, I made a terrible decision to drive after drinking at a friend’s party. I immediately enrolled in substance abuse counseling even though it wasn’t court-ordered, I haven’t had a drink since, and I’ve been working with a therapist on the underlying issues that led to that choice. I’m deeply embarrassed by it and I understand if it’s disqualifying for you, but I want you to know what I’ve done to make sure I never put anyone at risk like that again.” The family hired him, and he’s been with them for three years now. His honesty and accountability in that conversation told them more than the background check ever could.
Compare that to candidates who get caught in lies. “Oh, that charge? Yeah, that was dismissed.” And then you look at the report and it says convicted. Or “I didn’t know that would show up” when it’s a felony from five years ago. Or “That wasn’t my fault, the other person started it.” These responses tell you that this person either doesn’t take responsibility for their actions or they think they can lie to you. Either way, they’re not someone you want in your home.
One thing we tell families – if a candidate didn’t disclose something significant during the application or interview process, and it shows up on the background check, that’s a huge red flag even if the underlying incident isn’t that serious. Let’s say you ask someone if they’ve ever been convicted of a crime and they say no, and then the background check shows a conviction for theft. Even if the theft charge has context and explanation, the lie about it is disqualifying. You cannot employ someone in your private home if they’ve already demonstrated they’ll lie to you when the truth is inconvenient.
Here’s something else families don’t think about – background checks have limitations. They’re searching public records, which means they only capture what’s been formally reported. They don’t capture everything. Someone could have been fired from multiple positions for stealing and it might not show up if charges were never filed. Someone could have serious anger issues that have never resulted in an arrest. This is why background checks are just one piece of the puzzle. You also need strong references, thorough interviews, and a trial period where you’re paying attention.
At Seaside Staffing Company, we never recommend hiring someone based solely on a clean background check, and we never recommend automatically rejecting someone based solely on something appearing on a background check without context. You need to look at the whole picture – what’s on the report, how long ago it was, what the circumstances were, how the candidate talks about it, what their references say, and what your gut tells you about their character and honesty.
If you’re really unsure about something on a background check, get a second opinion. Talk to an employment attorney who works with household employers. Talk to your placement agency if you’re working with one. Talk to other families who employ household staff. Don’t just Google it and try to figure it out yourself, because background check laws and what’s legal to consider vary by state and you don’t want to make a decision that exposes you to discrimination claims.
The goal of a background check isn’t to find someone who’s never made a mistake or had a difficult period in their life. The goal is to identify patterns of behavior that would make someone unsuitable for a position of trust in your private home. You’re looking for dealbreakers – violence, dishonesty, theft, anything involving children. You’re looking for patterns that suggest poor judgment or inability to respect boundaries. And you’re looking for discrepancies between what someone told you and what the report shows. Everything else is context-dependent and requires conversation and judgment.
Most importantly, don’t let a background check give you false confidence. A clean report doesn’t mean someone is trustworthy, it just means they haven’t been caught or charged with anything that would show up on this particular search. Keep watching, keep paying attention during the trial period, and trust your instincts. Background checks are a tool, not a crystal ball. Use them wisely.
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