The new ordinance would prevent the city, and any contractors doing business with the city, from asking a job
applicant about criminal convictions unless that person has received a job offer.
During this entire process, the employer is required to be in communication with
the applicant about the criminal background screening and its results, and the applicant must be offered a chance for rebuttal.
The Ban the Box movement that works to prevent employers from asking job
applicants about their criminal history on the initial applications is spreading rapidly across the United States, with 24 states and over 150 cities and counties having such laws.
Since this is public record we encourage you to ask
the applicant about any criminal activity and verify that with the local authorities.
Not exact matches
This latter legislation, known as «Ban the Box,» took effect Jan. 1, 2018, and bans private companies from asking
about the
criminal history of a job
applicant.
Under the Kavanagh / Squadron bill, the factors applicable to all license applications would include the number, type, and proximity of other licenses in the area; whether the
applicant has necessary permits; the potential effect of the license on traffic and parking; noise levels; any history of liquor violations or
criminal activity at the premises; any history of building and fire violations at facilities operated or owned by the
applicant; and any formal communications
about the application from the municipality or community board.
The Syracuse Common Council is considering legislation that would prohibit businesses from screening prospective job
applicants about their history of
criminal convictions, early on in the hiring process.
The «Ban the Box» practice will not, however, eliminate post offer background checks that would provide information
about an
applicant's
criminal history or employment dismissals that would be relevant to the position applied for.
«We advise that you wait to view the
applicants» certificate to see the results before making a recruitment decision» This means there is some information on this check
about the
applicants»
criminal history and the employer should request to see the check in order to make an informed hiring decision.
[28] But when employers are prohibited from asking
about prior convictions on a job application, they may illegally attempt to use other observable characteristics — such as race, gender, and age — to infer an
applicant's likelihood of having a
criminal history.
The new laws, which will take effect on January 1, 2018, prohibit employers from asking job
applicants about their previous salary and set requirements regarding
criminal background checks.
As for background checks, business owners are allowed to inquire
about criminal history after the position has been offered to the
applicant.
For example, increasingly more states and cities are requiring that employers «ban the box,» which prohibits employers from seeking information
about an
applicant's
criminal charges or convictions.
As reported in the written decision of the Law Society Hearing Panel (which decision is under appeal by the
applicant), the
applicant threatened to sue the other board members for defamation after he was removed as President of the condo corporation and a notice of his removal was posted; circulated a letter (under a false name) on some floors within the building that falsely stated that some of the board members had previously gone bankrupt, had
criminal convictions and were accepting bribes and free meals from the developer of the condominium to settle deficiencies with the developer; made a derogatory remark
about some of the residents based on their ethnicity; threatened to report some of the directors to US / Canada border officials, falsely alleging that they were drug smugglers; threatened both the corporation's property manager and security services firm that their contracts with the condo corporation would be in jeopardy if they did not provide a character letter to the
applicant.
1 For attempts to measure the effect of advocacy quality through other means, see, e.g., Banks Miller et al., Leveling the Odds: The Effect of Quality Legal Representation in Cases of Asymmetrical Capability, 49 Law & Soc» y Rev. 209 (2015)(finding that high quality representation evened the odds for asylum
applicants and that asylum seekers fared better when unrepresented than when represented by a poor lawyer); Mitchell J. Frank & Dr. Osvaldo F. Morera, Professionalism and Advocacy at Trial — Real Jurors Speak in Detail
About the Performance of Their Advocates, 64 Baylor L. Rev. 1, 38 (2012)(finding statistically significant correlations in
criminal cases between jurors» perceptions of closing argument persuasiveness and jury verdict, and finding statistically significant correlations in civil cases between perceptions of defense counsel's closing argument persuasiveness and defense verdict); James M. Anderson & Paul Heaton, How Much Difference Does the Lawyer Make?
Many states also have laws preventing employers from asking
about criminal history or limit the amount of information that can be requested and how the information obtained can be used to determine if an
applicant will be hired or not.
California became the 10th state to require private sector employers to ban the box on employment applications removing the ability to ask
about an
applicant's
criminal history.
Ban the Box laws prohibit employers from asking
about a job
applicant's
criminal history on an application and in some cases during an interview.
Think
about this: If an
applicant or employee misses out on a job opportunity because your CRA reported inaccurate or un-reportable information — an expunged
criminal record, for example — that individual will look first to you, the hiring company, for accountability.
Keep information
about the
criminal records of
applicants and employees confidential (only use it for the purposes for which it was intended).
It also helps gain critical information
about an
applicant's character and past history that isn't always apparent in an interview or application, such as
criminal history, credit history, and driving record.
These laws prevent companies from asking
about a job
applicant's
criminal history on an application and during interviews.
Current or prospective employer clients will be provided information
about the limited nature of
criminal records databases and the importance of researching each
applicant's
criminal history in the jurisdictions in which the
applicant currently or previously has lived or worked.
Connecticut has become the latest state to implement a statewide «ban the box» legislation banning employers from asking job
applicants about previous
criminal activity «at the onset of the employment process.»
Employers also must be concerned
about Equal Employment Opportunity Commission regulations, which provide that obtaining
criminal records inconsistently, whether based on the race, color, religion, national origin or sex of the
applicant, is unlawful under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
The common element of these laws is that they contain a prohibition against asking
about criminal background at the application stage of hiring, and then using the answer to determine whether to exclude an
applicant.
In other words, employers have to learn enough
about individual
applicants to know when they should be excluded based on a job - related
criminal offense, yet avoid exclusions that would discriminate against a protected class.
Be alert to the possibility that
criminal background data
about your
applicant may exist in more than one jurisdiction or courthouse.
The trends include: Number 1: Controversy over Whether Employers Using Credit Reports for Employment Screening is Discriminatory Increases Number 2: Questions
about Criminal Records of Job
Applicants Become More Difficult for Employers to Ask Number 3: Employers Discover Fast and Cheap Online Background Checks Using
Criminal Databases Not Always Accurate or Legal Number 4: Background Checks of Temporary Workers Cause for Concern for Employers as Hiring Increases Number 5: International Background Screening More Necessary Due to Mobility of Workers in Global Economy Number 6: Using Social Network Sites Such as Facebook to Screen Job Candidates Increases Legal Risk for Employers Number 7: More Workplace Violence Prevention Education Helps Protect Employers and Employees Number 8: Increased Privacy Concerns Over Offshoring of Personally Identifiable Information (PII) Number 9: E-Verify and I - 9 Audits Help Government Find Employers with Illegal Workers Number 10: New Accreditation Standards Help Employers Select Background Screening Firms
Many employers inquire
about criminal convictions on their employment applications by placing a box for the
applicants to check if he or she has ever been convicted of a crime.
I'm going to share a little known fact
about background screening — an
applicant's social security number is not used directly in matching
criminal records.
However, the issue of whether employers can use a job application to ask
about a job
applicant's
criminal record is becoming more complicated.
The advantage is that an employer can use a well worded application form to discourage
applicants with something to hide while also encouraging
applicants to be open and honest regarding questions
about past
criminal convictions.
Written By ESR News Blog Editor Thomas Ahearn Employment Screening Resources ® (ESR)-- a global background check firm located in the San Francisco area — has created a California Ban the Box Law Infographic to help employers understand Assembly Bill 1008, a law prohibiting private employers from asking
about the
criminal history of
applicants before...
Asking
about criminal offences if the
applicant was not convicted is borderline — usually a no - no.
But by being armed with your
applicant's eviction,
criminal, and credit history you can make a much more informed decision
about who to accept or reject and more accurately evaluate the risk.
To find out what you don't know
about rental
applicants, you need to understand a tenant's credit,
criminal, Income Insights and eviction history.
As long as you do a thorough tenant screening that includes a credit report,
criminal report, eviction report, and you check pay stubs and references, it's in your hands to make a fully informed decision
about an
applicant.
TransUnion SmartMove provides credit,
criminal and eviction reports to help landlords find out what they don't know
about their rental
applicants and protect their rental income.