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
Seyfarth Synopsis: On January 20, 2021, Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney signed three bills amending the city’s ordinances regulating employer use of criminal and credit history in employment screening. All employers with...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: 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
On January 21, 2020, the Oakland City Council unanimously passed the Fair Chance Housing Ordinance (“FCHO”), which will restrict landlords in their ability to reject a potential tenant because of prior criminal history. It...more
2/11/2020
/ Adverse Action ,
City Councils ,
Class Action ,
Conditional Offers ,
Criminal Background Checks ,
Criminal Records ,
Discrimination ,
Drug Distribution ,
Housing Market ,
Landlords ,
Local Ordinance ,
Municipalities ,
Regulatory Standards ,
Rental Applications ,
Rental Property ,
Risk Management ,
Sex Offenders ,
State and Local Government ,
Tenants
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: 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: 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 U.S. Virgin Islands and Westchester County, New York have enacted legislation which brings these jurisdictions into the growing “Ban the Box” trend. ...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: The U.S. Virgin Islands and Westchester County, New York have enacted legislation which brings these jurisdictions into the growing “Ban the Box” trend. ...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: Michigan Governor Rick Snyder recently signed a bill that will prohibit counties and cities from enacting “ban-the-box” ordinances or other restrictions on the ability of private employers to inquire about...more
4/26/2018
/ Amended Legislation ,
Ban the Box ,
Conditional Job Offers ,
Criminal Background Checks ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Job Applicants ,
Local Ordinance ,
Private Sector ,
State and Local Government ,
State Labor Laws
Seyfarth Synopsis: On April 3, 2018, San Francisco amended its Fair Chance Ordinance to align, in some respects, with California’s new ban-the-box law. San Francisco employers with more than five employees still must be...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: Kansas City, Missouri becomes the latest jurisdiction to “ban the box” by delaying inquiries into criminal history until an applicant has been deemed qualified -- and has been at least interviewed -- by a...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: The Spokane City Council recently approved a “ban-the-box” ordinance, which, if it becomes law, will prohibit employers from requesting and considering criminal history until after an interview. The Mayor...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: On August 5, 2017, the Final Rules and Regulations for the New York City Fair Chance Act (the “FCA”) go into effect. The FCA, which is enforced by the New York City Commission on Human Rights (the...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: Mayor Ed Lee signed the “Parity in Pay Ordinance” (“Ordinance”) on July 19, 2017, prohibiting employers from inquiring about a job applicant’s salary history. The law will go into effect on July 1, 2018...more
7/27/2017
/ Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Equal Pay ,
Gender-Based Pay Discrimination ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Job Applicants ,
Local Ordinance ,
New Legislation ,
Pay Equity Laws ,
Salary/Wage History ,
Wage and Hour
Seyfarth Synopsis: In recent years, numerous cities and counties have enacted ordinances restricting the ability of public and private employers to inquire into the criminal histories of applicants during various stages of...more
7/24/2017
/ 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 ,
Local Ordinance ,
New Legislation
Seyfarth Synopsis: San Francisco is likely to be the next jurisdiction to prohibit employers from asking job applicants about wage history. If signed by the Mayor, as expected, the law will go into effect on July 1, 2018...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: UPDATE: The United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania dismissed the challenge to the Philadelphia ordinance on May 30, 2017 based upon the Chamber of Commerce for Greater...more
6/9/2017
/ Commerce Clause ,
Due Process ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Equal Pay ,
First Amendment ,
Fourteenth Amendment ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Home Rule States ,
Job Applicants ,
Local Ordinance ,
Salary/Wage History ,
Wage and Hour
Seyfarth Synopsis: Businesses banded together to challenge, on First Amendment and Due Process grounds, the pay equity Ordinance which would ban inquiries into prospective employees’ prior salaries. The Ordinance, which was...more
4/26/2017
/ Commerce Clause ,
Disparate Treatment ,
Due Process ,
First Amendment ,
Fourteenth Amendment ,
Gender-Based Pay Discrimination ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Home Rule States ,
Local Ordinance ,
Pay Equity Laws ,
Pay Gap ,
Salary/Wage History ,
Wage and Hour
Seyfarth Synopsis: The California Fair Employment and Housing Council (“FEHC”) has approved new regulations, effective July 1, 2017, to limit employers’ use of criminal history when making employment decisions....more
Seyfarth Synopsis: The City of Los Angeles recently issued its Rules and Regulations Implementing the Fair Chance Initiative For Hiring (Ban the Box) Ordinance, providing critical guidance to employers on compliance with the...more
2/22/2017
/ Ban the Box ,
Criminal Background Checks ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Exceptions ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Job Ads ,
Job Applicants ,
Local Ordinance ,
Notice Requirements ,
Posting Requirements ,
Record Retention