The Risks in Background Checks
AGG Talks: Background Screening - Ban the Box and Fair Chance Hiring Laws: The Year in Review
#WorkforceWednesday: COVID-19 Restrictions Tighten, NYC Fair Chance Act, Biden's Budget - Employment Law This Week®
Employment Law Now III-50 - A 50th Birthday Celebration Episode
Since California’s enactment of the Fair Chance Act (“Act”) over six years ago, California’s private and county employers with five or more employees have become well-acquainted with the Act’s general prohibition of employers...more
In 2016, the City of Los Angeles enacted a detailed fair chance hiring ordinance. A comprehensive statewide law followed in 2017. Soon, employers with jobs located in the unincorporated areas of the County of Los...more
A scary surprise is fun to encounter when you are in a haunted house at a Halloween event, but not so much fun when you are performing a background check on a potential employee. Even worse is finding out after the fact that...more
The California Civil Rights Council recently amended the regulations interpreting California’s 2018 Fair Chance Act, which go into effect October 1, 2023. The new regulations add restrictions, make clarifications, and...more
The continued filing of lawsuits against employers under the FCRA underscores the need for in-house counsel, Human Resources, and Talent Acquisition to comply with the statute, especially the “pre-adverse action” notice...more
More than 90% of employers use some form of a background screening on applicants or employees when making employment decisions. There can be several reasons for using them: ensuring safety in the workplace; reducing exposure...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
On December 10, 2020, the New York City Council amended New York City’s Fair Chance Act (FCA), also known as the “ban the box” law. The recently enacted amendments will take effect on July 29, 2021....more
Class action litigation brought under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) is on the rise—particularly in California—after the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit issued a 2017 decision applying a hypertechnical...more
On March 20, 2020, the Ninth Circuit issued its third opinion on the question of when an employer’s background check disclosure satisfies the so-called “standalone” disclosure requirement in the Fair Credit Reporting Act...more
With the start of a new year—and a new decade—employers in San Francisco, California, Waterloo, Iowa, and Grand Rapids, Michigan, must follow new “ban-the-box” laws restricting their use of criminal records in hiring and...more
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Employees – and unsuccessful applicants for employment – are increasingly asserting claims under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) for violations arising out of background checks conducted by third party credit reporting...more
Effective July 1, 2017, new regulations from the California Fair Employment and Housing Council will further limit an employer’s ability to consider the criminal history of a job applicant or employee when making employment...more
Portland, Oregon’s ban-the-box law, the Removing Barriers to Employment Ordinance, took effect on July 1, 2016. The ordinance prohibits most Portland employers from asking about an applicant’s criminal history or conducting a...more
Austin, Texas recently became the latest city to “ban the box” for private employers. Under the new law, Austin employers with 15 or more employees may not require an applicant to disclose his or her criminal history prior...more
On March 24, 2016, the Austin City Council passed a “ban-the-box” ordinance, the Fair Chance Hiring Ordinance, which took effect on April 4, 2016. The final version of the ordinance was released on April 12, 2016. It...more
On March 24, 2016, the Austin City Council passed an ordinance that will significantly restrict many employers from making employment decisions about applicants or employees based on their criminal histories. The Fair Chance...more
On February 11, 2014, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors passed sweeping amendments to San Francisco Police Code, Article 49, and Administrative Code, Article 12 (“the amendments” or “the ordinances”) that significantly...more
Recently, in a 6-3 vote, New Jersey’s Assembly Labor Committee advanced a bill (A-3837), known as the Opportunity to Compete Act, that would prohibit New Jersey employers with 15 or more employees from asking candidates about...more