New laws starting in 2018 such as the passing of the California Fair Chance Act will affect pre-employment screening policies. This new law is above and beyond previous ban-the-box laws and will change how employers conduct their hiring processes. Not only will employers be banned from inquiring about an applicant’s criminal history they will also not be allowed to ask questions about their previous salary history.
These new changes in employment law in the state of California highlight the immediate need for Human Resource Departments to review their current employment screening procedures to ensure their hiring policies correctly reflect current law. Even employers outside of California should take note of these changes as they could soon become adopted in other States.
On January 1, 2018 California enacted two significant laws affecting hiring and pre-employment background screening.
From the Mercury News (MercuryNews.com; Jan 01, 18):
Starting Jan. 1, employers in the state will be banned from asking job applicants about their criminal history before making a conditional offer of employment or from inquiring about applicants’ salary history. mercurynews.com/2018/01/01/workplace-laws-in-2018-could-impact-job-seekers-parents-and-ex-offenders/
Of the many changes to law in California the elimination of the question regarding criminal history from the application as well as inquiry about salary history are significant. Both of these changes should alert hiring managers and HR personnel to review all hiring procedures and employment screening policies including when criminal background checks can be conducted during that process. Typically a conditional offer of employment must be in place before these types of background checks can be performed. Paying attention to these new laws and working with a professional background screening company will help to ensure compliance with all existing and upcoming law.
California Fair Chance Act is a significant change from previous law.
From the San Francisco Chronicle (Dec. 27, 18):
Experts say the most significant new law is AB2008, the California Fair Chance Act. It prohibits public- and private-sector employers with five or more employees from seeking information about a prospective worker’s criminal history in job applications or interviews or running a criminal background check until a “conditional offer of employment” has been made. The goal is to reduce recidivism by preventing employers from rejecting ex-offenders out of hand.
The act goes further than California’s existing “ban-the-box” law, which prevents employers from asking applicants about arrest records that did not result in a conviction, juvenile offenses, expunged convictions and non-felony marijuana-possession convictions more than 2 years old. The existing law also prohibits state and local government agencies (but not companies or federal agencies) from asking applicants about criminal convictions until the agency determined that the applicant meets minimum employment qualifications. sfchronicle.com/business/networth/article/New-state-workplace-laws-will-help-ex-cons-12458131.php
Ban the box activity has been spreading across the country over the past several years and affects a growing number of jurisdictions, both single location entities as well as multi-state companies. And the laws vary from jurisdictions in subtle ways, such as California’s Fair Chance Act. Laws governing the use of public records, especially criminal record reports, continue to increase in complexity.
AB-168 prohibits employers from asking about salary history.
From Lexology.com (Jan 02, 18):
AB-168 amends the California Labor Code to prohibit employers from “rely[ing] on the salary history information of an applicant for employment as a factor in determining whether to offer employment to an applicant or what salary to offer an applicant” or “seek salary history information, including compensation and benefits, about an applicant for employment.” lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=3fcf8c88-5c95-406a-958c-cb120235adac
Any significant changes in employment and labor law affects how hiring managers can go about the employment screening phase of the hiring process. California being the most populous State in the USA has a lot of clout and recent changes to California employment law may soon impact other States. Before being caught off guard it is wise for all employers in the country to review existing pre-employment screening policies and procedures to ensure compliance for current and potential new laws.
To read more about how new laws such as those enacted by the State of California will affect employment screening practices and the overall hiring process in the USA read recent CriminalBackgroundRecords.com press release: New Laws in 2018 Remind Business to Review Pre-Employment Background Screening Policies; States CriminalBackgroundRecords.com