D.C. Employers Pay Nearly $500,000 in ‘Ban the Box’ Violations Over the Past 5 Years
Ban the Box has been in effect since 2014 in Washington, D.C., but you wouldn’t know it by the actions of some D.C. businesses. More than 1,100 administrative charges have been filed against employers who continue to ask about criminal histories on job applications, despite the ban. Those charges have resulted in approximately $500,000 in fines, according to a report by the D.C. Office of Human Rights and Hire Image information.The report also notes that the city has received more than 1,800 complaints since the D.C. Council passed the Fair Criminal Record Screening Act, which prevented employers from inquiring about an applicant’s criminal history before an offer is made. With regard to the violations, a vast majority of them (more than 90%) were related to criminal background questions that appeared on job applications, while less than 5% were related to questions an employer asked in an interview. Penalties for violations of D.C.’s Ban the Box law ,...