(Podcast) California Employment News: Fair Chance Act – A Brief Overview of Employment Criminal Background Checks
The Risks in Background Checks
AGG Talks: Background Screening - Ban the Box and Fair Chance Hiring Laws: The Year in Review
#WorkforceWednesday: COVID-19 Restrictions Tighten, NYC Fair Chance Act, Biden's Budget - Employment Law This Week®
Employment Law Now III-50 - A 50th Birthday Celebration Episode
The employment law landscape has seen widespread changes on the federal and state levels in recent years. In light of what is poised to be years of even more changes, now is an opportune time to re-examine the basics of a...more
In December 2023, the California Civil Rights Department (“CRD”) filed the first-of-its-kind lawsuit under the California Fair Chance Act (“Act”) against Ralphs Grocery Store (“Ralphs”) in the Los Angeles County Superior...more
Chicago has amended its “Ban the Box” Ordinance (the “Ordinance”) to further align with Illinois law. The Ordinance, which originally took effect in 2015, provides protections for both prospective and current employees....more
On June 10, 2021, Governor Ned Lamont signed into law Connecticut’s “Clean Slate” law, Public Act No. 21-32. The Clean Slate law became effective January 1, 2023, and it provides for the automatic erasure of certain criminal...more
A growing number of states and municipalities are restricting the types of inquiries employers can make during hiring, creating concerns with what employers can include or must include on job applications and job postings. ...more
Q: Ban the Box has been around for several years now, and I know at least one city in Iowa implemented local regulations about background checks. What is the status in Iowa?...more
The Fair Chance Act, commonly referred to as California’s “ban the box” law, imposes restrictions on employers with five or more employees from asking a job applicant any questions that seek the disclosure of their conviction...more
2021 continues the trend of increasing regulation of the workplace by state and local governments. Although it is not possible to discuss all state and local laws, this update provides an overview of recent and upcoming...more
Companies that hire employees and engage independent contractors in California should brace for a significant slowdown in background checks that include criminal record searches in California state courts....more
In July 2021, Maine enacted a new “ban-the-box” law that limits employer inquiries into an applicant’s criminal history. Under the new law, entitled “An Act Relating to Fair Chance in Employment,” employers are prohibited...more
The California Court of Appeal has ruled that date of birth and/or a driver’s license number cannot be used to identify individuals in an electronic search of the criminal index of court records. All of Us or None v....more
As we previously discussed, Illinois has moved beyond “ban-the-box” and now significantly restricts employers’ ability to consider criminal convictions when making employment decisions. (For more details see our employer’s...more
On March 23, 2021, Governor J.B. Pritzker signed a bill (SB1480) that amends the Illinois Human Rights Act (IHRA) to, among other things, impose new requirements on employers that perform criminal history checks on their...more
In 2015, Illinois became one of the first states to enact a “ban the box” law, preventing employers from inquiring about criminal histories on employment applications. The “ban the box” law followed a general prohibition in...more
Effective January 1, 2021, private sector employers with 10 or more employees in the City of St. Louis must comply with Ordinance 71074 (the Ordinance), a ban-the-box ordinance that prohibits employers from asking job...more
Since its implementation on January 1, 2018, The Fair Chance Act has been a source of questions for California employers. Also referred to as “banning the box,” Government Code section 12952 makes it illegal for most...more
Hawaii has narrowed the scope of what employers can consider regarding an individual’s conviction history when making employment decisions. Hawaii employers have long been required to limit their consideration of felony...more
Hawaii has long had a law limiting the discretion that employers have to consider older conviction records in making employment decisions. Effective September 15, 2020, SB 2193 prevents most private sector employers from...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: As the number of class actions alleging FCRA violations continues to skyrocket, it is critical for California employers to understand the basics of all laws affecting employment screening programs. This...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: Waterloo, Iowa has enacted the state’s first “Ban the Box” Ordinance. UPDATE #2: On April 3, 2020, the lawsuit brought by the Iowa Association of Business and Industry (the “Association”) against the...more
If your business operates in Maryland, you need to be aware of SB 839, a law that took effect February 29, 2020. SB 839 prohibits employers with 15 or more full-time employees from asking job applicants about their criminal...more
During the 2019 legislative session, the Maryland House and Senate voted to enact the Criminal Record Screening Practices Act (Ban the Box) (the Act). ...more
Many states and localities have been adopting “ban-the-box,” prohibiting employers (including private employers) from asking applicants to disclose information concerning their criminal histories prior to an initial interview...more
With the start of a new year—and a new decade—employers in San Francisco, California, Waterloo, Iowa, and Grand Rapids, Michigan, must follow new “ban-the-box” laws restricting their use of criminal records in hiring and...more
Maryland has just joined a growing number of states and local jurisdictions — including Baltimore, Montgomery County, and Prince George’s County — in banning private employers from requesting information about an applicant’s...more