The California Fair Employment and Housing Council has issued new regulations which further limit employers’ ability to consider criminal history when making employment decisions, such as hiring, promotion, training, discipline, layoff, or termination.
The new regulations will take effect on July 1, 2017.
The regulations prohibit an employer from considering criminal history in employment decisions if doing so will result in an adverse impact on individuals within a protected class , such as race, national origin, or religion.
In addition, the regulations prohibit employers from considering non-felony convictions for possession of marijuana if the conviction is more than two years old.
The regulations will also require an employer to give notice to an applicant or employee before taking adverse action against the person based on their criminal history. Specifically, the employer must give notice of the disqualifying conviction and provide a reasonable opportunity to present evidence that the conviction information is factually inaccurate. It is important to note, however, that this notice is only required when the criminal information is obtained from a third party source, such as a background report or based on the employer’s own research.
Employers should therefore review their policies and procedures to ensure compliance with these new regulations, as well as any local “Ban the Box” ordinances (such as in Los Angeles and San Francisco) and the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act.
EDGAR LEGAL GROUP 