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The Massachusetts Attorney General’s (AG) Office recently launched an investigation into whether employers were complying with the state’s Ban the Box law at  Hire Image . The law went into effect in 2010 as part of a legislative effort to reform the state’s Criminal Offender Record Information (CORI) system. The AG’s Office announced at  Hire Image , that it discovered 19 businesses violating the Ban the Box law by asking questions about applicants’ criminal histories on initial job applications, including whether the applicants had been convicted of violating the law, whether they had been convicted of a felony or misdemeanor other than a minor traffic violation, and whether they had been convicted of a felony. Agreements were reached with two of those businesses, Brooks Brothers and DesignWerkes, Inc.  Under the agreements, each business paid $5,000 to the state and came into compliance with the Ban the Box law.  The AG’s Office also sent warning ...

Hire Image  background screening specialists report that, effective September 1, 2019, Colorado employers with 11 or more employees (effective September 1, 2021, for all employers) are prohibited from: Advertising that a person with a criminal history may not apply for a position; Placing a statement in an employment application that a person with a criminal history may not apply for a position; or Inquiring about an applicant’s criminal history on an initial application. Employers may obtain an applicant’s publicly available criminal background report at any time at  Hire Image . Under the law, employers are exempt when the law prohibits a person who has a particular criminal history from being employed in a particular job; the employer is participating in a program to encourage employment of people with criminal histories; or the employer is required by law to conduct a criminal history record check for the particular position. For more information about ...

Hire Image  reports that Maryland Governor Lawrence J. Hogan Jr. explained his reasons for vetoing the Maryland Ban the Box legislation (Senate Bill 839 and House Bill 994) in a letter to the President of the Senate and Speaker of the House.  In that letter, he notes that hiring the right team is “one of the most critical activities a business does” and that requiring a business to wait to ask an applicant about his or her criminal history until the first in-person interview would result in “costly and time-consuming human resource work that ultimately goes nowhere.” The Governor also mentions hiring delays, wasted time and resources, additional costs without adequate returns, and safety concerns as his numerous reasons for the veto.  In particular, with regard to safety,  Hire Image  notes the exemption for children and vulnerable adults, which begs the question – what about everyone else?  The legislation also contained what he called “dangerous pr...

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 ,...

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) filed a lawsuit against Dollar General alleging its use of criminal history in its hiring practices and decisions violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 because it had a disparate impact on some applicants.  While continuing to deny the allegations, the company agreed to settle with a $6 million payment.  Additionally, Dollar General agreed to hire a criminal history consultant to evaluate their policies and implement any recommendations within six months.  Dollar General also agreed to increased managerial training, so that managers better understand how not to discourage those with criminal histories from applying for employment and to consider hiring those whose conditional employment offers were rescinded based on their criminal history. Not sure what you can or cannot ask and when hiring in your state?  Visit our   Hire Image  Resource Guide to learn more. Origina...

When New Mexico’s Gallup Independent Newspaper hired Guy Priel as an education reporter, they were unaware that he had been previously convicted of two felonies–once for assaulting a child and once for possessing child pornography.  After being hired, Priel was sent into a school for a story.  Fortunately, he was observed during his visit and no harm was done to any of the children. When the newspaper found out about Priel’s past, they pointed to the recently enacted Ban the Box law, prohibiting employers from asking about criminal history on a job application.  In response, State Senator Bill O’Neill, who co-sponsored the bill, stated that the law does not change the employer’s responsibility to investigate criminal history. This unfortunate turn of events represents the unintended consequences that may result from some reintegration efforts.  While Ban the Box prohibits employers from asking about criminal history at the outset of the application...

The Waterloo City Council narrowly passed a Ban the Box ordinance this week, making it the first city in the state to impose these requirements on private businesses.  The ordinance allows employers to conduct criminal background checks only after making a conditional job offer and allows them to withdraw the job for a legitimate business reason based on an applicant’s criminal history.  As always, with these measures, there are strong feelings on either side of the debate. The ordinance will take effect upon publication, a process that takes several weeks.   Hire Image  will provide an update and the actual ordinance once that occurs. Originally Posted:-  https://www.hireimage.org/waterloo-iowa-passes-ordinance-ban-box/