The release of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s (EEOC) “Enforcement Guidance on the Consideration of Arrest and Conviction Records in Employment Decisions Under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964” outlines best practices for employers to follow regarding criminal records. Among other things, it includes: Removing from applications the question about criminal history; recommendations about not making an employment decision based soley on the fact of an arrest record; and conducting an “individualized assessment” before rejecting an applicant or terminating an employee because of a conviction. State and local levels have followed by “banning the box,” however, more recently, the California Fair Employment & Housing Council (FEHC) issued proposed regulations that identified ways in which employers can face liability when using a candidate’s criminal history in hiring.

Read more here.