California Employment News: Fair Chance Act – A Brief Overview of Employment Criminal 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®
Washington employers face a wave of new workplace legislation, some of which recently became effective and some that will begin in 2026 and beyond. These new or modified laws address a broad range of topics, many of which...more
A new Washington law expands protections for job applicants and employees under the state’s Fair Chance Act, aligning the statewide law more closely with Seattle’s Fair Chance Employment Ordinance. Notably, employers will...more
In 1903, Edmund Smith invented the Automated Fish Cleaner. This glorious machine could gut, clean and can a salmon 55 times faster than a human could. ...more
In 2018, Washington enacted a Fair Chance Act, requiring covered employers to wait until after considering an applicant to be “otherwise qualified” for the position at issue to inquire about or consider criminal history when...more
In this installment of California Employment News, Ryan Abernethy and Nikki Mahmoudi provide an essential overview of California’s Fair Chance Act—also known as the Ban the Box law. Learn what employers need to know about...more
Following the lead of other California cities and counties, the County of San Diego recently passed a local fair chance ordinance restricting the use of criminal history in employment decisions. Effective October 10,...more
Big changes are in store. In an effort to further promote fair hiring practices, Los Angeles County adopted a new Fair Chance Ordinance for the unincorporated areas of the County. This ordinance, which takes effect today,...more
Starting September 3, 2024, employers must comply with involved new requirements if they wish to consider criminal backgrounds in making hiring or promotional decisions for positions that will perform work in any...more
What is this about? On February 27, 2024, the County of Los Angeles Board of Supervisors voted to adopt the County’s Fair Chance Ordinance for Employers (FCO). The FCO aligns with the California Fair Chance Act (FCA),...more
Effective September 3, 2024, employers with locations or employees (including remote workers) in the unincorporated areas of Los Angeles County (ULAC) will be subject to a new Fair Chance Ordinance. To say that the new...more
California has implemented new regulations, effective October 1, 2023, that significantly change the employer criminal background check process for California applicants and employees. The following answers to ten frequently...more
This summer the California Civil Rights Council approved modified regulations pertaining to California’s Fair Chance Act. These modifications take effect on October 1, 2023. Employers should remember the following as these...more
The California Civil Rights Council recently amended the regulations interpreting California’s 2018 Fair Chance Act, which go into effect October 1, 2023. The new regulations add restrictions, make clarifications, and...more
For many years, California employers have been subject to the state’s Fair Chance Act, which (in a nutshell) requires employers to...more
Existing California law regulates inquiries into and the use of criminal history information in hiring and personnel decisions. Existing California law also substantially impedes the ability of employers (and background...more
On February 7, 2023, Bill No. A03726 was introduced before the New York State Assembly which, if passed, would prohibit employers from inquiring about or making statements regarding “the arrest record or conviction record of...more
Key Points - The past eight months have featured the introduction of myriad new state and city laws impacting New York firms. From amendments to the NYC Fair Chance Act and NYS Paid Family Leave Law, to the expansion...more
Year two of the COVID-19 pandemic brought many new legislative changes for New York employers, altering the landscape around workplace safety, employee pay, leave benefits, protected classes and activity, and privacy. Now...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
Recent Amendments to the New York City Fair Chance Act (FCA) that took effect on July 29, 2021, significantly expand the scope of the FCA by imposing new restrictions on an employer’s ability to take adverse action against...more
Effective July 29, 2021, revisions to the New York City Fair Chance Act (FCA) will impose new requirements on New York City employers who evaluate criminal history information, including pending criminal charges, when making...more
The New York City Council has expanded NYC’s Fair Chance Act to further restrict NYC employers from taking adverse actions against applicants or employees based on their criminal history. The law will go into effect on or...more
The California Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA), as amended in 2018, restricts a covered employer’s ability to make hiring decisions based on an individual’s criminal history, including but not limited to court records...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
Seyfarth Synopsis: The San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance (the “FCO”), which was amended as of October 1, 2018, has long required that covered employers provide employees with the Office of Labor Standards Enforcement’s...more