The President recently signed the National Defense Authorization Act, which includes the federal Fair Chance Act, which, subsequently, brings “Ban-the-Box” rules to a large part of the federal government and brings a complete “Ban-the-Box” implementation on a nationwide basis closer to fruition. Adam Almeida, President and CEO of CriminalBackgroundRecords.com opines: “Anytime a significant action such as the Fair Chance Act is implemented hiring managers should take note and make sure they are working with a well-qualified third-party pre-employment background screening agency, such as CriminalBackgroundRecords.com, in order to remain compliant with law.”
For the last several years “Ban-the-Box” legislation has swept across the country. Designed to give everyone a fair chance at employment by eliminating the potential of discrimination by removing the criminal history box on applications, “Ban-the-Box” has now made it to a nationwide, federal level.
A recent legislative act, the National Defense Authorization Act, contains the Fair Chance Act, an act designed to create “Ban-the-Box” type regulation within the federal government.
From Littler.com (Dec 24 19):
On December 20, 2020, the president signed legislation, the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2020, which includes the federal Fair Chance Act (“the Act”). The Act prohibits federal contractors that have openings for positions within the scope of federal contracts, as well as all federal agencies, from inquiring about or seeking criminal history information from an applicant until after a conditional job offer has been extended. The Act and multi-jurisdictional state and local “ban-the-box” laws are intended to give ex-offenders released from prison and those with past criminal background records a better opportunity at obtaining employment by eliminating or at least deferring any pre-employment inquiry into an applicant’s criminal history. (1) FULL RELEASE