The Risks in Background Checks
Current Trends in FCRA Litigation - The Consumer Finance Podcast
AGG Talks: Background Screening - Ban the Box and Fair Chance Hiring Laws: The Year in Review
AGG Talks: Background Screening - Redaction of Identifiers by the Courts Update, Breaking News from California
AGG Talks: Background Screening - Redaction of Identifiers by the Courts in Michigan and California Pose Challenges for Background Checks
In recent years, advocates and lawmakers have been pushing to expand the reach of “ban-the-box” measures designed to remove job barriers for individuals with criminal convictions....more
A growing number of states and municipalities have passed “fair chance” laws that, to varying degrees, prohibit employers from inquiring into a job applicant’s criminal background during the hiring process or restrict...more
Are you hiring the right candidates? Or are you hiring candidates that put your organization at risk, bounce around, and can’t do what they say they do? Background screening is your defense system when trying to make quality...more
The County of Los Angeles has announced a new Fair Chance Ordinance, taking effect on September 3, 2024, that will regulate the consideration of criminal history information by employers with five or more employees in...more
When is an offense a covered “offense” under the Wisconsin Fair Employment Act’s (WFEA) prohibition against arrest record discrimination? This was the question answered by the Wisconsin Court of Appeals in its recent decision...more
New York has enacted the Clean Slate Act, effective November 16, 2024, which will provide for the automatic sealing of certain criminal history records. Upon sealing, the records will be unavailable to most employers in a...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: On November 16, 2023, New York became the 12th state to enact “Clean Slate” legislation, which allows certain criminal records to be sealed after an individual is sentenced or released from incarceration,...more
On Nov. 16, 2023, New York State Gov. Kathy Hochul signed legislation, also known as the Clean Slate Act, to automatically seal from public access criminal records for most individuals convicted of a crime....more
On November 16, 2023, New York Governor Kathy Hochul signed a bill into law requiring records of certain past criminal convictions to be sealed. The legislation is intended in part to prevent discrimination in hiring against...more
After more than a year of administrative activity pertaining to California’s Fair Chance Act (FCA), the California Civil Rights Council issued final modifications to the FCA’s regulations (the “Revised Regulations”). The...more
The California Office of Administrative Law approved the Civil Rights Council’s proposed amendments to regulations regarding consideration of criminal history in employment. Effective October 1, 2023, employers must comply...more
This blog post will explore the key features when selecting background check software. From improving candidate flow and upgrading your hiring workflow to ensuring global coverage and maintaining trusted speed 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
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 Jan. 12, 2023, the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey held in Ramos v. WalMart, Inc. that Pennsylvania plaintiffs have up to six years to file claims against employers for improper use of criminal history...more
Included in the defense spending bill signed by President Biden in December 2022 is a section with key provisions for financial institutions that will ease restrictions on hiring candidates with criminal records....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
Beginning July 1, 2023, SB 731 will provide for the automatic sealing of certain felony criminal records. Arrests that do not result in conviction will also be sealed....more
California recently passed Senate Bill 731 (“SB 731”) into law which significantly expands the automatic sealing eligibility of most felonies that occurred on or after January 1, 2005, if certain circumstances are met. This...more
Following a trend in California regarding increased leniency for those with conviction records, and ensuring that formerly incarcerated people are not unduly burdened by their past, Governor Newsom recently signed SB-731 into...more
When an individual in Colorado is charged with a misdemeanor assault crime, they may fear that they are no longer able to own or purchase firearms. Whether or not an individual can own or purchase a gun after a minor assault...more
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
Over the last several years, federal and state governments have pushed employers to reemploy offenders, such as through tax incentives and subsidized training. Despite the public interest in such initiatives and programs, the...more
An overwhelming majority of states have adopted what is widely known as “ban-the-box” laws or policies that generally prohibit employers from inquiring about an applicant’s criminal background until later in the hiring...more
On November 15, 2021, the city of Des Moines, Iowa, passed a “ban-the-box” law that will limit employer inquiries and background checks into an applicant’s criminal history until after a conditional offer of employment....more