Los Angeles Joins Ban the Box Movement

By Todd Lebowitz and Jeffrey Bils on December 27, 2016 Posted in Background Checks, California

Los Angeles has become the latest city to ban private employers from asking job applicants about their criminal histories before offering a job. With its Fair Chance Initiative for Hiring, the city joins San Francisco, New York, Chicago, and about two dozen other cities, counties and states in enacting Ban the Box measures to promote … Continue Reading

Oregon Limits Criminal Background Inquiries by Employers

By Todd Lebowitz on January 4, 2016 Posted in Background Checks

Oregon became the seventh state to ban the box for private employers, prohibiting any questions about criminal background on employment applications and at any time before an initial interview takes place. Oregon’s law took effect January 1, 2016. Ban-the-box laws have become increasingly prevalent as a way to help provide ex-offenders an opportunity to be … Continue Reading

Washington, D.C. Joins the Ban-the-Box Movement for Private Employers

By Todd Lebowitz on August 28, 2014 Posted in Background Checks

The District of Columbia has passed one of the most stringent ban-the-box laws in the nation. The D.C. law includes the typical prohibition on asking questions about criminal background during the application process, but it also adds a requirement, similar to New York State, that specific factors be considered before a conditional offer of employment … Continue Reading