Starting after Labor Day, employers with jobs located in the unincorporated areas of the County of Los Angeles, including work-from-home and hybrid positions, must comply with the County’s fair chance hiring ordinance. The...more
9/3/2024
/ Background Checks ,
City of Los Angeles ,
Conditional Job Offers ,
Criminal Background Checks ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Fair Chance Act ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Job Applicants ,
Labor Reform ,
Local Ordinance ,
New Regulations
In 2016, the City of Los Angeles enacted a detailed fair chance hiring ordinance. A comprehensive statewide law followed in 2017. Soon, employers with jobs located in the unincorporated areas of the County of Los...more
3/13/2024
/ Adverse Employment Action ,
Ban the Box ,
California ,
City of Los Angeles ,
Criminal Background Checks ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Job Ads ,
Job Applicants ,
Labor Reform ,
Labor Regulations ,
Local Ordinance ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Screening Procedures ,
Undue Burden
Companies that hire employees and engage independent contractors in California should brace themselves for an even greater slowdown in background checks that include criminal record searches in Los Angeles County. This will...more
The California Civil Rights Council previously issued draft revisions to the Fair Employment and Housing Act’s regulations governing inquiries into and consideration of a job applicant’s criminal history in making hiring...more
8/2/2023
/ Background Checks ,
Ban the Box ,
California ,
Conditional Job Offers ,
Criminal Background Checks ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Discrimination ,
FEHA ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Job Applicants ,
Labor Reform ,
State Labor Laws
For nearly a decade, Chicago has maintained a “ban-the-box” ordinance restricting employer’s use of criminal records in employment screening. This ordinance largely mirrored the requirements of Illinois’ state-wide Job...more
5/11/2023
/ Background Checks ,
Ban the Box ,
City of Chicago ,
Conditional Job Offers ,
Criminal Background Checks ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Illinois ,
Job Applicants ,
Labor Reform ,
Local Ordinance ,
New Regulations ,
Screening Procedures
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
3/27/2023
/ Ban the Box ,
California ,
Conditional Job Offers ,
Criminal Background Checks ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Fair Chance Act ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Job Applicants ,
Labor Reform ,
Pending Legislation ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
State Labor Laws
Effective December 15, 2022, the city of Gainesville became the first jurisdiction in Florida to restrict the use of pre-employment inquiries into an applicant’s criminal history.1 The City has now joined the dozens of other...more
The continued filing of lawsuits against employers under the FCRA underscores the need for in-house counsel, Human Resources, and Talent Acquisition to comply with the statute, especially the “pre-adverse action” notice...more
Employers that rely on criminal background checks to vet candidates know all too well that they must comply with a legion of statutes, ordinances, and regulations. On December 15, 2022, the Civil Rights Council (“Council”)...more
1/6/2023
/ Background Checks ,
Ban the Box ,
Conditional Job Offers ,
Criminal Background Checks ,
Draft Guidance ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Discrimination ,
FEHA ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Job Applicants ,
Labor Reform ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
State Labor Laws
A May 2021 court decision in California, All of Us or None v. Hamrick, caused significant background check delays in some California county courts and left background check companies unable to report some criminal record...more
Background check industry groups have mounted a full-court press to remedy the recent slowdown in criminal record searches in California state courts caused by last year’s court of appeal decision in All of Us or None v....more
3/21/2022
/ California ,
Conditional Job Offers ,
Criminal Background Checks ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Job Applicants ,
Labor Reform ,
Privacy Concerns ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Regulatory Agenda ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
State Labor Laws
As we predicted four years ago, class action lawsuits against employers under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) continue to spike, including class actions targeting background check disclosures....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
9/8/2021
/ Background Checks ,
Ban the Box ,
Conditional Job Offers ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Criminal Background Checks ,
Criminal Records ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Gig Economy ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Independent Contractors ,
Job Applicants ,
Labor Regulations ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Rulemaking Process ,
State Labor Laws
On July 15, 2021, the New York City Commission on Human Rights (the “NYCCHR” or “Commission”) issued its highly anticipated updated Legal Enforcement Guidance on the Fair Chance Act and Employment Discrimination. ...more
7/20/2021
/ Background Checks ,
Ban the Box ,
Conditional Job Offers ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Criminal Background Checks ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Fair Chance Act ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Job Applicants ,
Labor Regulations ,
Local Ordinance ,
Regulatory Requirements
Last month, the new chair of the EEOC, Charlotte A. Burrows, was the keynote speaker at a conference regarding new research on criminal recidivism....more
7/7/2021
/ Background Checks ,
Ban the Box ,
Conditional Job Offers ,
Criminal Background Checks ,
Criminal Records ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Employment Policies ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Job Applicants
Employers with operations in California should be vigilant about compliance with the protections against criminal record discrimination in the California Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA). The FEHA prohibits employers...more
3/8/2021
/ Ban the Box ,
Criminal Background Checks ,
DFEH ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Discrimination ,
FEHA ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Job Applicants ,
Labor Regulations ,
State and Local Government ,
State Labor Laws
For years, Philadelphia has maintained ordinances substantially restricting employers’ use of criminal record and credit histories in employment screening. These regulations are in addition to, not in lieu of, the federal...more
1/27/2021
/ Ban the Box ,
Criminal Background Checks ,
Discrimination ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) ,
Gig Economy ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Independent Contractors ,
Job Applicants ,
Local Ordinance ,
Screening Procedures
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
10/8/2020
/ Background Checks ,
Ban the Box ,
Conditional Job Offers ,
Criminal Background Checks ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Fair Chance Act ,
Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) ,
FEHA ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Job Applicants ,
State and Local Government ,
State Labor Laws
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
9/17/2020
/ Background Checks ,
Ban the Box ,
Conditional Job Offers ,
Criminal Background Checks ,
Criminal Records ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Job Applicants ,
Labor Regulations ,
State and Local Government ,
State Labor Laws
On April 9, 2020, the Massachusetts’ Department of Criminal Justice Information Systems (DCJIS) passed an Emergency Regulation to address the social distancing limitations due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Any entity requesting...more
On April 24, 2020, the Ninth Circuit held that the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) permits an employer to provide job applicants with a background check disclosure document at the same time the employer provides job...more
On March 20, 2020, the Ninth Circuit issued its third opinion on the question of when an employer’s background check disclosure satisfies the so-called “standalone” disclosure requirement in the Fair Credit Reporting Act...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
2/13/2020
/ Adverse Employment Action ,
Background Checks ,
Ban the Box ,
Conditional Job Offers ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Criminal Background Checks ,
Criminal Records ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Fair Chance Act ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Job Applicants ,
Labor Regulations ,
Local Ordinance ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
State and Local Government ,
State Labor Laws
On December 20, 2020, the president signed legislation, the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2020, which includes the federal Fair Chance Act (“the Act”). The Act prohibits federal contractors that...more
12/27/2019
/ Background Checks ,
Ban the Box ,
Conditional Job Offers ,
Criminal Background Checks ,
Criminal Records ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Fair Chance Act ,
Federal Contractors ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Job Applicants ,
New Legislation
Employers should continue to exercise caution and care in drafting their criminal record screening policies. A recent settlement by Dollar General underscores this point, even though it comes on the heels of the Fifth...more
11/4/2019
/ Administrative Procedure Act ,
Ban the Box ,
Bias ,
Civil Rights Act ,
Class Action ,
Conditional Job Offers ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Criminal Background Checks ,
Dollar General ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Employment Litigation ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Job Applicants ,
Multistate Corporations ,
Retailers ,
Settlement ,
Title VII