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
On March 14, 2024, the Massachusetts House of Representatives passed legislation that would prohibit employers from obtaining or using a true credit report for employment purposes. The proposed law, which includes only...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: Each year, employers revisit and possibly modify their background screening policies and practices to account for newly enacted ban-the-box and other laws impacting background screening. Last year, we saw...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: On June 16, 2021, Louisiana joined the growing list of states and localities with so-called “Fair Chance” laws by enacting its own law restricting an employer’s consideration of criminal history in hiring...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: On June 18, 2021, the Iowa Supreme Court upheld a portion of the Waterloo, Iowa ban-the-box law’s restrictions on “when” employers can inquire about criminal history, but struck down restrictions on “what”...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: The New York City’s Fair Chance Act amendments are scheduled to go into effect on July 29, 2021, after bill Introduction No. 1314-A became law on January 10, 2021. Among other things, the amendments expand...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: Illinois currently has a ban-the-box law restricting employers from asking about criminal history generally until after an interview and the state’s Human Rights Act makes it unlawful for an employer to...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: On September 15, 2020, Hawaii Governor David Y. Ige signed Senate Bill 051, which narrows the scope of convictions that employers can use for hiring and other employment-related decisions. The new law is...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: On July 24, 2020, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation issued a final rule that codifies the FDIC’s Statement of Policy (SOP) related to Section 19 and makes several important changes to the SOP. The...more
On April 27, 2020, the Suffolk County Legislature filed with the Secretary of State an amendment to the county’s Human Rights Code to include a new “Fair Employment Screening” section. ...more
5/28/2020
/ Background Checks ,
Ban the Box ,
Conditional Job Offers ,
Criminal Background Checks ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Job Applicants ,
Labor Regulations ,
Local Ordinance ,
New Regulations ,
State and Local Government
Seyfarth Synopsis: In recent years, federal courts have weighed in on the Fair Credit Reporting Act’s (FCRA) requirement that consumer report disclosures be in a standalone document consisting solely of the disclosure. ...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: On March 20, 2020, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals held the Fair Credit Reporting Act’s (“FCRA”) standalone disclosure requirement does not allow for the inclusion of any extraneous information in an...more
4/11/2020
/ Background Checks ,
Class Action ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Credit History ,
Criminal Background Checks ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Application ,
Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Job Applicants ,
Job Offers ,
State and Local Government ,
State Labor Laws
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
4/10/2020
/ Background Checks ,
Ban the Box ,
Conditional Job Offers ,
Criminal Background Checks ,
Criminal Records ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Job Applicants ,
Labor Law Violations ,
Labor Regulations ,
Local Ordinance ,
Penalties ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
State and Local Government ,
State Labor Laws
Seyfarth Synopsis: On January 30, 2020, the Maryland General Assembly voted to override Governor Larry Hogan’s May 2019 veto of the Act Concerning Record Screening Practices (Ban the Box) (the “Act”). As a result, effective...more
2/7/2020
/ Background Checks ,
Ban the Box ,
Conditional Job Offers ,
Criminal Background Checks ,
Criminal Records ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Discrimination ,
General Assembly ,
Governor Vetoes ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Job Applicants ,
Labor Regulations ,
State and Local Government ,
State Labor Laws
Seyfarth Synopsis: St. Louis has become the third locality in Missouri to enact a “Ban the Box” law, joining Kansas City and Columbia. With a January 1, 2021 effective date, covered employers should begin taking steps to...more
2/4/2020
/ Background Checks ,
Ban the Box ,
Conditional Job Offers ,
Criminal Background Checks ,
Criminal Records ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Job Applicants ,
Labor Law Violations ,
Labor Regulations ,
Local Ordinance ,
Penalties ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
State and Local Government
Seyfarth Synopsis: On December 17, 2019, Congress passed "The Fair Chance To Compete for Jobs Act of 2019" (the “Act”) as part of the National Defense Authorization Act. ...more
1/28/2020
/ Background Checks ,
Ban the Box ,
Conditional Job Offers ,
Criminal Background Checks ,
Criminal Records ,
Defense Contracts ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Employment Policies ,
Federal Contractors ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Job Applicants ,
Labor Regulations ,
Regulatory Requirements
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
1/24/2020
/ Background Checks ,
Ban the Box ,
Conditional Job Offers ,
Criminal Background Checks ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Fair Chance Act ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Job Applicants ,
Local Ordinance ,
Notice Requirements ,
San Francisco ,
State and Local Government ,
State Labor Laws
Seyfarth Synopsis: Waterloo, Iowa has enacted the state’s first “Ban the Box” Ordinance.
UPDATE: The Iowa Association of Business and Industry has filed a lawsuit against the City of Waterloo and the Waterloo Commission on...more
1/24/2020
/ Background Checks ,
Ban the Box ,
Conditional Job Offers ,
Covered Employer ,
Criminal Background Checks ,
Criminal Records ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Job Applicants ,
Labor Regulations ,
Local Ordinance ,
Multistate Corporations ,
New Regulations ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
State and Local Government
Seyfarth Synopsis: On December 3, 2019, the Appellate Court of Illinois affirmed summary judgment in favor of a public utility company that considered credit checks for individuals applying for a customer service...more
1/14/2020
/ Appeals ,
Confidential Information ,
Credit Checks ,
Employee Privacy Rights ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Employment Litigation ,
Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) ,
Federal Labor Laws ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Job Applicants ,
Labor Regulations ,
Regulatory Standards ,
Right to Privacy ,
State and Local Government ,
State Labor Laws ,
Summary Judgment
Seyfarth Synopsis: After six years of litigation, on November 18, 2019, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) announced a multimillion-dollar settlement with a national employer, which resolved litigation that...more
12/10/2019
/ Ban the Box ,
Class Action ,
Conditional Job Offers ,
Consent Decrees ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Criminal Background Checks ,
Disparate Impact ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Employment Litigation ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Job Applicants ,
Minorities ,
Screening Procedures ,
Settlement Agreements
Seyfarth Synopsis: With limited exception, Puerto Rico has joined the growing list of states that preclude an employer or prospective employer from procuring an employee’s or applicant’s credit history and/or taking adverse...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: Waterloo, Iowa has enacted the state’s first “Ban the Box” Ordinance....more
11/27/2019
/ Background Checks ,
Ban the Box ,
Conditional Job Offers ,
Criminal Background Checks ,
Criminal Records ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Job Applicants ,
Local Ordinance ,
State Labor Laws
Seyfarth Synopsis: The Columbia, South Carolina Mayor Steve Benjamin has signed a new law prohibiting City employers - but NOT private employers - from inquiring about an applicant’s criminal history until receipt of a...more
11/1/2019
/ Background Checks ,
Ban the Box ,
Conditional Job Offers ,
Criminal Background Checks ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Job Applicants ,
Labor Regulations ,
Local Ordinance ,
Public Employees ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
State and Local Government
Seyfarth Synopsis: The Columbia, South Carolina Mayor Steve Benjamin has signed a new law prohibiting employers – including private employers – from inquiring about an applicant’s criminal history until receipt of a...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: The Colorado Governor has just signed a new law prohibiting employers from inquiring about an applicant’s criminal history on an initial employment application....more