The Risks in Background Checks
The Clean Slate Act’s Impact on Employers
AGG Talks: Background Screening - Ban the Box and Fair Chance Hiring Laws: The Year in Review
Expungements: A Helping Hand for a Second Chance and New Opportunities
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
#WorkforceWednesday: COVID-19 Restrictions Tighten, NYC Fair Chance Act, Biden's Budget - Employment Law This Week®
How to Conduct Criminal Background Checks the Right Way
[WEBINAR] Labor & Employment Law: What Changed in 2017
"Ban The Box" And Other Laws Limiting An Employer's Use Of Criminal History
LXBN This Week Ep. 2: EEOC on Criminal Records & Transgender Discrimination, BP Oil Spill Arrest, AZ Immigration Law at SCOTUS
Smart hiring often includes a post-offer criminal background check on the job candidate to help employers make informed decisions. This practice can reveal potential employment risks like theft, workplace violence, or...more
Employers commonly conduct background checks on prospective employees in various areas that they may think relevant when deciding whether to hire an individual for a job. Yet, federal, state, and local laws are increasingly...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
With summer approaching, many employers will be turning their attention to staffing up for the season. The summer workforce includes a substantial number of minors. So, this is a good time to consider the issues involved...more
The federal government became the most recent employer to adopt a “Ban the Box” policy when The Fair Chance to Compete for Jobs Act became effective December 20, 2021. The law prohibits federal contractors and most federal...more
Last month, the new chair of the EEOC, Charlotte A. Burrows, was the keynote speaker at a conference regarding new research on criminal recidivism....more
On March 23, 2021, Governor J.B. Pritzker signed Senate Bill 1480 (SB 1480), which amends the Illinois Human Rights Act to impose robust new restrictions and obligations on employers’ use of background checks in Illinois. The...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: Stepping into a new year always gives one a chance to reflect on the lessons and trends of the prior year. In that spirit, we are pleased to present our annual selections for the five most intriguing...more
One of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s top priorities has been to stop employers from instituting blanket bans on hiring individuals with criminal records. The EEOC’s focus stems from national data suggesting...more
In the first-of-its-kind ruling last week, the Fifth Circuit held that the EEOC’s investigators and lawyers cannot rely on its “Enforcement Guidance on Consideration of Arrest and Conviction Records in Employment Decisions...more
In 2012, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission issued enforcement guidance on employers’ use of criminal background checks in the hiring process. The EEOC concluded that indiscriminate use of such checks has a disparate...more
On August 6, 2019, in State of Texas v. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit ruled that the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) overstepped its limited rulemaking...more
NLRB Proposes Election Changes. On August 9, 2019, the National Labor Relations Board issued a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) that proposes three specific amendments to its election procedures....more
No legal authority to issue its Enforcement Guidance! In February 2018, I wrote about a federal court decision that enjoined (prohibited) the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission from taking any action to enforce its 2012...more
In a case with a truly byzantine court history, Texas v. EEOC, Texas has once again prevailed in striking down the EEOC’s “guidance” on employer use of arrest and conviction records. Way back in 2012, the EEOC issued...more
Over 33 states and 150 cities, counties and municipalities have enacted Ban-the Box laws that prohibit employers from asking about an applicant’s criminal record or criminal history prior to the applicant being selected for...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
On September 24, 2018, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) reaffirmed the importance of following its 2012 enforcement guidance on employer use of criminal history information - specifically the EEOC’s...more
Employers that use criminal record-screening policies must continue to be vigilant about compliance with all applicable laws and should know that the EEOC’s scrutiny of such policies, while perhaps scaled back, has not ended....more
In 2012, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission issued an Enforcement Guidance dealing with employer use of criminal background checks in the hiring process. The agency concluded that widespread use of such checks...more
It is estimated that the "American criminal justice system holds almost 2.3 million people in 1,719 state prisons, 102 federal prisons, 1,852 juvenile correctional facilities, 3,163 local jails, and 80 Indian Country jails as...more
As we enter the holiday season, we gather around the bubbler to sing about a few of our favorite (and not so favorite) things in the world of employment and labor law. Unfortunately, they’re not as sanguine as raindrops on...more
Effective July 1, 2017, the regulations under the Fair Employment and Housing Act will identify new circumstances in which employers may face liability for considering criminal history in making employment decisions such as...more
Factory recalls have become a fact of life for those who sell and drive vehicles. The scenarios have a common theme: a vehicle part does not operate as designed or is determined to present a possible risk of failure. Once...more
When it comes to legislation restricting employer use of criminal records, California seems to be leading the charge. In the last six months alone, we have reported on a variety of new laws that apply to California employers...more