Local Compliance Ban-the-Box Regulations

There are a number of municipal or county entities with restrictions on the use of criminal records applicable to employers (and sometimes landlords). As mentioned on the previous page, Ban-the-Box means limiting or removing questions about criminal records from employment (or property leasing) applications. Typically, in these jurisdictions, the employer will have the ability to inquiry of or consider a criminal record at some later point in the hiring process, such as when a job offer is made, but not on the initial application.

Local Ban-the-Box local laws generally placed only on “public” employees - meaning only employees hired by the county or city. But a handful of cities and counties have placed this restriction on both public and private employers. Some of the private employer laws have special conditions, such as being in force only if the employer has a certain number of employees. And Ban-the-Box would not apply to employers expressly permitted to inquire into an individual’s criminal history for employment purposes per federal or state law.

Found on the State Rules Register are two helpful charts. The first is titled “Ban-the-Box States (Regarding Private Employers)” which is state driven. Second, is the Ban-the-Box Major Cities (Private Employers) which is a much larger chart that includes only larger/major cities that have enacted Ban-the-Box restrictions. Note this list is a moving target; cities and counties are added as local laws continue to be passed and does not encompass all areas affected.

An excellent source of information about this topic is maintained by the National Employment Law Project (NELP). The article can be found at http://www.nelp.org/publication/ban-the-box-fair-chance-hiring-state-and-local-guide/.