Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman announced settlements with two major national retailers, Big Lots Stores and Marshalls, to “Ban the Box” on initial employment applications at their Buffalo stores. The settlement will ensure that both companies comply…
Posts by Category: Criminal History Check
Colleges That Ask Applicants About Brushes With the Law Draw Scrutiny
The online admissions application for Auburn University appears simple, until you get to this question: “Have you ever been charged with or convicted of or pled guilty or nolo contendere to a crime other than a minor traffic offense, or are there any criminal…
How we Graded the States on Teacher Background Checks
The USA TODAY NETWORK determined America’s system for checking teachers’ backgrounds is a loosely-connected patchwork of state laws and procedures, inconsistent practices by school districts and state officials, and wide variations in who’s…
NYU Moves to Remove Criminal Background Check Questions on College Application Forms
New York University is taking steps to remove the criminal background check question on their college application forms. By doing this, prospective students would no longer have to divulge if they’ve run afoul of the law. Could this be the new frontier of Ban…
New Jersey Issues New Ban-the-Box Regulations
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…
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…



