California employers should be aware of the “California Fair Employment & Housing Council (FEHC) Consideration of Criminal History in Employment Decisions Regulations” that restrict the use of criminal records by employers in hiring and other employment decisions that took effect on July 1, 2017, according to an article posted on the Society for the Human Resource Management (SHRM) website.
In the article entitled “New Criminal History Screening Restrictions Now in Effect in California,” SHRM Online Editor/Manager Roy Maurer interviewed background check experts that included Attorney Lester Rosen, the founder and CEO of Employment Screening Resources® (ESR), a global background check firm located in the San Francisco, California-area, and the author of “The Safe Hiring Manual.”
The California FEHC – the state agency charged with enforcing the state’s civil rights laws – adopted the regulations that closely follow the “Enforcement Guidance on the Consideration of Arrest and Conviction Records in Employment Decisions Under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964” that was issued by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) on April 25, 2012.
The guidance from the EEOC – the agency that enforces federal laws prohibiting employment discrimination – does not prohibit employers from using criminal records but outlines best practices that employers should follow for criminal records of applicants and employees with protected characteristics under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 that include sex, race, color, national origin, and religion. FULL ARTICLE