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
House Bill 975, if signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis, will have a significant impact on the Florida criminal background screening requirements for healthcare professionals and facilities. Currently, only certain healthcare...more
Pennsylvania and Philadelphia recently enacted changes that impact employer criminal background screening. ...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
Louisiana employers should be aware of two new laws which went into effect on August 1, 2021. The first, Act 393, provides for reasonable accommodations of employees who become temporarily disabled due to certain...more
After unanimous approval by both Florida’s Senate and House, Governor Ron DeSantis signed the Educator Conduct Act on June 21, amending several sections of the state’s K-20 Education Code and imposing new statutory...more
On March 23, 2021, Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker signed into law Senate Bill (SB) 1480, amending the Illinois Human Rights Act and Illinois Equal Pay Act. SB 1480 greatly limits use of criminal background checks in...more
On March 23, 2021, Governor Pritzker signed into law amendments to the Illinois Human Rights Act (IHRA) that substantially limit employers’ ability to consider an applicant or employee’s criminal history. ...more
On March 23, 2021, Governor J.B. Pritzker signed a bill (SB1480) that amends the Illinois Human Rights Act (IHRA) to, among other things, impose new requirements on employers that perform criminal history checks on their...more
If your business operates in Maryland, you need to be aware of SB 839, a law that took effect February 29, 2020. SB 839 prohibits employers with 15 or more full-time employees from asking job applicants about their criminal...more
Private employers with federal contracts will soon be prohibited from requesting criminal history information from candidates at the onset of the hiring process; instead, they will have to wait until after an offer is made....more
On December 20, 2019, President Trump signed into law a defense spending bill which included the Fair Chance to Compete for Jobs Act of 2019 (“Fair Chance Act”). Employers should take note that the law (1) prohibits the...more
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
On May 28, 2019, Colorado governor Jared Polis signed into law the Colorado Chance to Compete Act (House Bill 19-1025), more commonly known as “ban the box” legislation. The recently signed Act is another example of...more
Can you ask a job applicant criminal history? As with so many legal questions, the answer is “it depends” — on where you work, in this case. A recently enacted law will change this answer for Colorado employers beginning as...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
While the partial federal government shutdown has kept Congress at an impasse, it should be business as usual at the state and local levels in January. At least 46 states and the District of Columbia will be in session by the...more
On November 10, 2018, the U.S. Virgin Islands joined the “ban-the-box” movement by enacting legislation regulating employers’ use of the criminal records of applicants and employees. Currently, 32 states and over 150...more
It’s hard to keep up with all the recent changes to labor and employment law. While the law always seems to evolve at a rapid pace, there have been an unprecedented number of changes for the past few years—and this past month...more
We have seen a recent expansion of “Ban the Box Legislation” which prevents employers from asking information about the arrest or conviction record of an applicant for a position. Some legislation prevents employers from...more
On Saturday, October 14, 2017, California Gov. Jerry Brown signed Assembly Bill 1008 into law, which is set to take effect on January 1, 2018. Known as the “Ban the Box” legislation, in reference to the box applicants are...more
The deadline for California Governor Jerry Brown to sign new bills into law officially expired October 15, 2017. In addition to signing five bills last week, the Governor signed three more employment-related bills into law...more
The October 15, 2017 deadline has come and gone for Governor Jerry Brown to weigh the bills passed by the California legislature this year. Governor Brown has now signed into law a jaw-dropping number of bills that pertain to...more
On October 14, 2017, Governor Jerry Brown signed Assembly Bill 1008, which will add a section to the California Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) containing new state-wide restrictions on an employer’s ability to make...more
New York City’s Fair Chance Act (FCA), which took effect October 27, 2015, imposes affirmative obligations on covered employers and employment agencies regarding when they may conduct criminal background checks on job...more
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