Beginning on November 4, 2010, Massachusetts employers may no longer ask job applicants to check a box on initial employment applications to indicate whether they have been convicted of a crime. This "ban the box" legislation, which amends the anti-discrimination statute in Massachusetts and is part of a greater reform of the Criminal Offender Record Information (CORI) law, is intended to provide greater employment opportunities for those with past criminal convictions. The law does not, however, preclude employers from asking about CORI during interviews or after the initial employment application.

As in the past, employers asking about criminal background information during interviews may still not inquire about...

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