The New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development (NJDOL) has adopted regulations for the Opportunity to Compete Act, the state Ban-the-Box Law, clarifying many questions, including the Act’s impact on businesses with multistate operations. The new…
Posts by Category: Criminal History Check
OPM Ban the Box and Background Checks
On December 15, the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) published in the Federal Register a notice listing its priorities. Under “Suitability” on page 77883 of the Federal Register, OPM states that they will be “proposing modifications to its rules…
Philadelphia Expands Ban-the-Box Legislation
Amendments to Philadelphia’s “Ban the Box” legislation, the Fair Criminal Records Screening Standards, were signed into law by Mayor Michael Nutter on December 15, 2015. The amendments to Philadelphia’s ordinance, which take effect on March 14, 2016, expand the reach…
Kasich Signs ‘Ban the Box’ into Law
Ohio Governor John Kasich signed into law a bill that will bar public employers from including questions on job applications concerning an applicant’s criminal background.The signing of the “ban the box” vote comes amid growing national concern that…
Crime and Employment: Asheville ‘Banning the Box’
Asheville, North Carolina, is eliminating any question about criminal convictions from most job applications, a change planned for some time in January.When the change is made, applicants will still go through a criminal background check, just later in the hiring…
Portland, Oregon Bans the Box
Portland’s City Council unanimously passed new rules that will significantly affect an employer’s ability to obtain and use criminal history information in the hiring process. With these new rules, Portland joins the growing number of other cities, counties and states…
Nashville Joins Other Cities in Ban the Box Movement
Metro’s Civil Service Commission voted unanimously in favor of a movement called Ban the Box. Nashville will join about 100 cities and 16 states that have removed questions about criminal convictions from job applications. It is called “Ban the Box” because it will…
New York City Issues Fair Chance Act Notice Form for Criminal Background Checks
New York City recently passed the Fair Chance Act (FCA), which is applicable to criminal background checks. Recently, the New York City Commission on Human Rights opined that the FCA applies to current employees (presumably when they are “applying” for a…
How a Fort Myers Mental Hospital Missed Warning Signs About Employee Who Sexually Assaulted Patients
Benjamin Bland’s supervisors missed several red flags when they hired him to care for patients at Park Royal Hospital, a last stop for many of Southwest Florida’s seriously mentally ill citizens. Bland was accused of sexually abusing several female…
“Ban the Box”: Good for People with Disabilities
President Obama took an historic step by directing the Office of Personnel Management to take action to ban the box in federal employment. As a result, OPM will modify its rules to delay inquiries into criminal history until later in the hiring process. Encouraging…