Gov. Jay Nixon visited the St. Louis Agency on Training and Employment to sign Executive Order 16-04, to lessen barriers to individuals with criminal histories attempting to enter the workforce, lower recidivism rates and improve public safety. The executive order…
Posts by Category: Criminal History Check
Bethlehem, PA Waiting To Ask Job Seekers About Criminal Records
Come March 14, Bethlehem no longer will ask each job applicant up front about a criminal record.That information, however, will be divulged prior to hiring. By opting to wait, the city joins a national movement pushed by civil rights advocates to “ban the…
New Twist On The Sex-Offender Registry: Financial Crime
States have taken the idea of the sex-offender registry and applied it to everything from kidnapping to animal abuse. Utah is expanding it into new territory: financial crime. An early version of the White Collar Crime Offender Registry includes more than 100 people…
Philadelphia Criminal Background Checks Fair Chance Hiring Law Poster
On March 14, 2016, Philadelphia’s so-calledban the box law, the Philadelphia Fair Criminal Records Screening Ordinance, became effective. With it came the release of a mandatory new posterrestating the major elements of what is now called Philadelphia’s Fair Chance…
NJ Adopts Final Regulations on Criminal Background Inquiries
New Jersey has promulgated its final ban-the-box regulations, clarifying the law passed on March 1, 2015, which severely restricted public and private employers with 15 or more employees from inquiring into an applicant’s criminal background at the beginning of the…
California Considers Criminal History in Employment Decisions
Continuing the nationwide crackdown on the use of criminal history as a factor in employment decisions, California’s Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH) released proposed regulations for employers with new prohibitions on the practice. In addition…
A.G. Schneiderman Announces Settlements With two Major National Retailers Over Violations of ‘Ban the Box’ Law
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…
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…