Does divorce show up on an employee background check?

[12years]

Hi if I am applying to a school district, does a divorce filing show up on the employee background check? I was threatened with a phone call yesterday that my BPD/NPD husband is going to file. I am going for a job with a school district and I fear this may hurt my chances.

[AnuDay]

The short answer is "Yes", but it will take some time to show up.  I would say 3-6 months after the filing. 

[ForeverDad]

There are so many divorced families out there that I can't imagine being divorced would be a hiring factor.

That said, the reality we face is that our divorces do tend to be more protracted and high conflict than 'normal' divorces.  Is he likely to make allegations to your prospective employers?  You can't put your life on hold over these worries.  Do what you have to do.  Consult with your lawyer on what can be done if your worries really happen.

Like so many others here, I suffered though a high conflict divorce, two years.  My now-ex made many child-related allegations, all were eventually deemed "unsubstantiated".  It was a horrendous experience overall but very few of my fears became reality.

[Panda39]

What concerns you about him filing and your job prospects?

I'm a Human Resources Assistant at a Hospital in the US, so there might be different requirements that are looked at for a teacher or if you are in a different country (we are international here  )  

On the backgrounds we run divorce isn't included (it's not a misdemeanor/felony to get a divorce). But if it did show on a background a divorce would have no effect on how we look at an applicant.   I'm sure many teachers are divorced and get divorced everyday.  Divorce has nothing to do with whether you are capable of doing the job, or have a pattern of undesirable behaviors (multiple DUI, drug arrests, Stealing, physical abuse etc) which is why a background check is done.   Background checks are used to weed out inappropriate candidates so for example at a hospital because we have a vulnerable population we would likely weed out someone with a history of physical abuse/physical conflict etc.  Your divorce has nothing to do with whether you are a good teacher or not.

Panda39
 

[GaGrl]

Like Panda, I have an HR background, with a lot of recruiting.

There would not be a background check until far into the thing process, and marital status of a current divorce action isn't relevant to the hire.

The background checks we depended on are criminal convictions (not arrests), a credit check for positions in which financials are critical, and a drug test.

If we didn't hire all the people going through a divorce, we would never have a full slate of employees!