Greater New Orleans Metropolitan Area

Situated at the end of the Mississippi River and clustered around its namesake city, the Greater New Orleans region is the historical heart of Louisiana with a population of about 1.2 million. Residents make their homes in the region’s eight parishes, the state’s equivalent to a county: Jefferson, Orleans, Plaquemines, St. Bernard, St. Tammany, St. Charles, St. John the Baptist, and St. James.

An important area both historically and today, New Orleans is a logistics hub that is home to one of the most active ports in the world by volume of trade. Major businesses employing area residents include Folgers, Entergy, and Tidewater Marine. With an economy that continues to rebound and accelerate, the Greater New Orleans metro is more attractive than ever as an employment destination for job seekers in the area’s parishes. 

While this motivated and mobile pool of job seekers may enable area businesses to fill vacancies quickly, it enhances the importance of due diligence. Making a safe hiring decision is about more than just credentials; it demands a deeper evaluation of a candidate’s suitability. Background checks make it possible.

Operating in a metro region around a city such as a New Orleans demands a vetting procedure that looks closely at an applicant’s history beyond the immediate area. Examining criminal records held by every parish in the area is the most prudent path for employers; looking only at applicant criminal history information in the parish of Orleans, for example, could mean missing vital information held nearby in the parish of Jefferson–information that might change the employment decision.

Establish an effective, metro-wide background check policy that fits within the bounds of local and federal fair hiring laws.

Louisiana places very few restrictions on employers regarding the use of background checks and criminal history information. State and local “ban the box” laws apply only to governments and not to private businesses. Louisiana allows for the consideration of all non-expunged records, including arrests, but arrests do not appear on background checks. Federal legislation, including Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, governs fair hiring in Greater New Orleans.

With an understanding of how and why to move forward with a new approach to background checking, you can now select the tools for the job. backgroundchecks.com provides a powerful array of options for businesses of all types and sizes to use in pursuit of safer hiring.

Ready to get started? For the parish of Orleans, which includes the City of New Orleans, our US OneSEARCH delivers instant criminal record results for your consideration. For the seven parishes of Jefferson, Plaquemines, St. Bernard, St. Tammany, St. Charles, St. John the Baptist, and St. James, backgroundchecks.com provides a hassle-free method for directly accessing courthouse records. Include the entire state of Louisiana instead with a state-level report or explore records elsewhere in the South with a customizable regional US OneSEARCH.

Reports created through these services include information from a variety of sources, including the Louisana Department of Corrections (updated monthly), the state sex offender registry (updated bi-weekly), and each parish’s district court (updated monthly). A report may include the applicant’s:

•  Name
• Arrest date
• Offense description

As the Greater New Orleans region grows, metro-ready background checks are essential for employers to ensure safe and reliable hires. Explore how businesses can benefit from a comprehensive metro search.