This bill would prohibit a public employer from inquiring into or considering the criminal record, criminal history or credit history or score of an applicant before it makes a conditional offer to the applicant. It would permit inquiry and consideration of criminal background after the conditional offer has been made. The bill specifies that once a background check is conducted an employer shall only consider felonies for 10 years from the completion of sentence, and misdemeanors for 5 years from the completion of sentence. Further, employers are required to consider several enumerated factors when deciding whether to revoke a conditional offer based on the results of a background check.  Full Bill – House Bill # 167 w/HA 1, HA 1 to HA 1, HA 2 

Banning the box refers to the elimination of an inquiry into a person’s criminal history on a job application. This bill extends the limitations currently imposed on the public sector to include private employers.  Private employers will be prohibited from inquiring into or considering, or requiring disclosure of, the criminal record or criminal history of an applicant for employment until the applicant has been selected for an interview, or before a conditional offer of employment is made to the applicant.

Monetary remedies are established for violations of the law. The Commissioner of Human Rights may impose the following:

1. For violations that occur before January 1, 2015, the penalties are as follows:
   1. A written warning is issued for the first violation that includes a notice the penalties for subsequent violations;
   2. If the first violation is not remedied within 30 days of the issuance of the warning, a fine of up to $500 may be imposed; and
   3. Subsequent violations are subject to a fine of up to $500 per violation, not to exceed $500 in a calendar year.
2. For violations that occur after December 31, 2014, the penalties are as follows:
   1. For employers that employ ten or fewer persons at a site in the state, the penalty is up to $100 for each violation, not to exceed $100 in a calendar month;
   2. For employers that employ eleven to 20 persons at a site in the state, the penalty is up to $500 for each violation, not to exceed $500 in a calendar month;
   3. For employers that employ more than 20 persons at one or more sites in the state, the penalty is up to $500 for each violation, not to exceed $2,000 in a calendar month;

The remedies listed above are exclusive and private employers are not additionally liable for non-compliance with the law.

The bill does not exempt an employer from conducting a criminal history background investigation or consider criminal history record when there is a legal requirement to do so. It outlines other exemptions particular to certain types of employment such as law enforcement and fire protection agencies.

A copy of the bill is available at here

The “box” referred to by the “ban the box” approach is the standard question in almost every employment application asking if a person has a criminal record, and a box to indicate “yes” or “no.”  Proponents of the “ban the box” approach note that ex-offenders have a difficult time obtaining employment, even if their criminal matter is old or unrelated, and that the question can result in an applicant being eliminated based upon their status as an ex-offender without any consideration of their abilities or qualifications.   Under the “ban the box” approach, appropriate background checks can still be conducted prior to employment, but ex-offenders are not  deterred from applying in the first place due to a fear of automatic rejection.

The state of Rhode Island has enacted a “Ban the Box” law – Senate Bill 357 (SB 357) – that will prohibit inquiries on employment applications regarding prior criminal convictions except when federal or state law specifically disqualifies a person from employment due to a prior conviction or authorizes such inquiries. The full text of SB 357 – which was signed by Rhode Island Governor Lincoln Chafee on July 16, 2013 and will take effect on January 1, 2014 – is available at http://openstates.org/ri/bills/2013/SB357/.

More than 50 cities and counties as well as ten states in the U.S. have already adopted “Ban the Box” reforms – See more at: http://nelp.3cdn.net/495bf1d813cadb030d_qxm6b9zbt.pdf

Minnesota joins Hawaii and Massachusetts for states that have now prohibited private employers from inquiring about and an individual’s criminal history on the initial job application.  Other cities that have adopted similar restrictions  are Newark, NJ and Philadelphia, PA.

Under the Minnesota law, all  private employers are prohibited from inquiring into, considering, or requiring  the disclosure of an applicant’s criminal record or history until after (i) the  applicant has been selected for an interview, or (ii) where there is no  interview, a conditional offer of employment is made to the applicant.  The law provides a limited exception for employers with a statutory duty to  conduct background checks or inquire into an applicant’s criminal  history. All employers are allowed, however, to notify applicants that  employer policy or the law will disqualify applicants with certain backgrounds  from particular positions.

Read More….

Starting July 1, 2012, new legislation in Indiana – House Bill 1033 (HB 1033) – restricts criminal history reporting in background checks by prohibiting certain pre-employment inquiries, restricting the types of criminal history information that employers and background check report providers – also known as “Consumer Reporting Agencies” (CRAs) – can obtain from Indiana state court clerks, and restricting the types of criminal history information that CRAs can report to employers in background check reports. The full text of Indiana House Bill 1033 is available at: http://www.in.gov/legislative/bills/2012/HE/HE1033.1.html

In November 2012, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced in the Federal Register corrections to typographical and technical errors in the earlier versions of three new essential CFPB forms required by the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) in the background screening process starting January 1, 2013. These forms include ‘A Summary of Your Rights Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act,’ ‘NOTICE TO USERS OF CONSUMER REPORTS:’ and ‘SUMMARY OF YOUR RIGHTS UNDER THE FCRA.’ 

A new ordinance in Newark, N.J., places restrictions on employers with five or more employees who use criminal background checks on prospective new hires and requires employers to modify their background check processes. The ordinance applies only to Newark and becomes effective Nov. 18, 2012.’ Read More.