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 regulations discuss form applications, the scope of the Act’s prohibitions as to positions in which employees perform work primarily out-of-state, inquiries arising out of an applicant’s pre-offer self-disclosure of a criminal record, and the Act’s penalty provisions. Furthermore, the regulations clarify that, with the exception of domestic employees and independent contractors, the Act’s prohibitions apply to nearly every position at a company.Effective March 1, 2015, the Act prohibits employers from inquiring into an applicant’s criminal background during the initial employment application process.

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