Criminal background checks are often the source of questions when it comes to compliance with Equal Employment Opportunity laws. It is not uncommon for states to regularly review whether it is acceptable for employers to review a criminal background check on employees before hiring them.
The state Rhode Island is now checking into the use of criminal background checks by employers. The movement that is precipitating states to move to looking into the unfair use of criminal background checks is called "Ban the Box. This ban would essentially require private and public employers to stop running criminal background checks on potential hires.
Exceptions to the Rule
The main gist of the ban make is unlawful for employers to ask an applicant before the interview if it would be ok to run a background check. Employers can not even ask the question "have you ever been convicted of a crime". This does not mean there are not loop holes.
The Ban the Box does not apply for certain situations in employers. These include:
law enforcement applicants require screening
The law, federal or state, creates a disqualification for an applicant if they have a criminal record or if they have been convicted of particular crimes. For instance, educators must know if an applicant is a registered sex offender.
A person with a criminal record would preclude them from receiving required bonds for some specific jobs.
A Spreading Movement
Rhode Island is the not the first state to join the Ban the Box movement. There are somewhere in the neighborhood of about 10 states and more than 50 cities that have banned the use of allowing background checks during the first parts of the employee applications process.
The recession has changed the employment landscape for many states, and it is hard to determine the impact that the Ban the Box movement will have on employment as a whole. The Rhode Island ban will not go into effect until January 2014. While the movement has been gaining momentum for several years, it has been just recent months that states have started to back this ban.
The state Rhode Island is now checking into the use of criminal background checks by employers. The movement that is precipitating states to move to looking into the unfair use of criminal background checks is called "Ban the Box. This ban would essentially require private and public employers to stop running criminal background checks on potential hires.
Exceptions to the Rule
The main gist of the ban make is unlawful for employers to ask an applicant before the interview if it would be ok to run a background check. Employers can not even ask the question "have you ever been convicted of a crime". This does not mean there are not loop holes.
The Ban the Box does not apply for certain situations in employers. These include:
law enforcement applicants require screening
The law, federal or state, creates a disqualification for an applicant if they have a criminal record or if they have been convicted of particular crimes. For instance, educators must know if an applicant is a registered sex offender.
A person with a criminal record would preclude them from receiving required bonds for some specific jobs.
A Spreading Movement
Rhode Island is the not the first state to join the Ban the Box movement. There are somewhere in the neighborhood of about 10 states and more than 50 cities that have banned the use of allowing background checks during the first parts of the employee applications process.
The recession has changed the employment landscape for many states, and it is hard to determine the impact that the Ban the Box movement will have on employment as a whole. The Rhode Island ban will not go into effect until January 2014. While the movement has been gaining momentum for several years, it has been just recent months that states have started to back this ban.
About the Author:
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