Tag Archive for: California

Changes to California’s Fair Employment & Housing Act

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On September 28, 2024, Governor Gavin Newsom signed Senate Bill 1100, an amendment to California’s Fair Employment & Housing Act (FEHA), introducing a significant change to promote fairness and inclusivity throughout the hiring process.  Under the amendment, starting in 2025, California will prohibit employers from requiring a driver’s license in job advertisements and applications unless driving is a job function for the position that cannot be performed by alternative means.

An overview of California’s Fair Employment & Housing Act 

Below is a quick timeline of California’s Fair Employment & Housing Act: 

  • 1959: The Fair Employment Practices Act enacted to address workplace discrimination 
  • 1963: The Rumford Fair Housing Act set boundaries on discrimination based on race, religion, national origin, and ancestry. 
  • 1980: The FEHA was enacted, combining the Fair Employment Practices Act and the Rumford Fair Housing Act. 

Since then, the FEHA has been a center point for California’s anti-discrimination laws. Multiple changes have occurred over the past few years alone, such as AB 2188  in 2024, which prohibits discrimination against off-duty cannabis use in most circumstances, and updates to the Fair Chance Act in October 2023. 

On September 28, 2024, Governor Gavin Newsom signed SB 1100 into law, further amending the FEHA to limit the circumstances under which an employer can require a driver’s license in job advisements and applications. 

Purpose and employer restrictions 

California has historically prohibited discrimination against individuals without a standard driver’s license to provide more opportunities for Californians with non-standard driver’s licenses who can provide proof of residency in the state but not national citizenship. This recent change adds an additional layer of protection to avoid candidate discrimination against individuals without any form of driver’s license at all.

The primary goal of the amendment is to provide equal access to employment opportunities for individuals who do not possess a driver’s license and those who may rely on alternative transportation methods such as ride-hailing services, public transportation, biking, and walking. Employers are also prohibited from including a statement in job advertisements, postings, applications, or other materials that an applicant must have a driver’s license unless: 

  • The employer reasonably anticipates driving to be one of the job functions for the position.
  • The employer reasonably believes that satisfying the job function using alternative forms of transportation (such as ride-hailing, taxis, carpooling, bicycling, and walking) would not be comparable in travel time or cost to the employer.

These changes to California’s Fair Employment Act are effective January 1, 2025. To learn more details, read the full text of the amendment here.

The future of anti-discrimination law

Hiring professionals in California should monitor the status of Senate Bill 1100 as the law’s interpretation and employer boundaries are set in future rulings, as well as other future updates to the Fair Employment & Housing Act.

While this amendment specifically applies to California, it draws attention to an often-overlooked barrier to inclusivity and non-discrimination in the workplace for candidates who do not or are unable to drive. Employers in other states should also be aware of these changes, as they may influence future legislation in other states and jurisdictions.

 

This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Employers should consult their legal counsel before taking any action. 

 

Clean Slate Laws: What Employers Need to Know

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It’s no secret to hiring managers that fair chance hiring laws have gained momentum in recent years. However, confusion remains about how these affect an organization’s onboarding process throughout employment screening. Some, such as the Fair Chance to Compete for Jobs Act of 2019, have been enacted at a federal level, while others differ from state to state, such as “Ban the Box” laws. Clean slate laws are another prominent example of the latter, which we will cover here to keep you and your team informed whether these laws have been codified in your state or legislators are considering doing so.

What Are Clean Slate Laws?

A “Clean Slate” law refers to state legislation passed to allow criminal records to be cleared or sealed from individual records if they stay crime-free for a specified duration. This means that those records don’t appear on background reports. However, not all expungements are automatic in all states, occasionally relying on the individual petitioning the court instead.

A notable exception to these laws occurs in states that have legalized the recreational selling of marijuana. Here, provisions may be put in place to seal non-violent cannabis-related convictions automatically.

How Do They Affect Employers?

Limiting information about applicants may worry some organizations from a risk management perspective, but it’s important not to let it deter hiring efforts. It is still possible to provide a safe workplace as many high-level and violent crimes are not eligible to be hidden or removed. Concerns of recidivism, while valid, should be tempered, as studies show that the risk for re-offense of expungement recipients is very low.

By removing that information from the equation, these laws make it easier for employers who find it difficult not to create unconscious bias when they see criminal records that typically would disqualify the individual from employment. This is also helpful in preventing backlash related to negligent hiring, as withheld criminal information can’t be used as an example of why the individual shouldn’t have been hired.

Clean Slate States

As of this writing (updated November 2023), twelve states have passed clean slate laws. Click a state in the table below to view the associated bill:

STATE

YEAR SIGNED INTO LAW
Pennsylvania

2018
Utah

2019
New Jersey
Michigan

2020
Connecticut
Delaware

2021
Virginia
Oklahoma

2022
Colorado
Minnesota

2023
California

Employer’s Responsibility

If your state already has a clean slate law in place, it’s important to stay up to date on any changes and adjust your screening policy accordingly. Pay close attention to the legislation that enacted these regulations and any amendments applied, consulting your legal counsel if issues arise. If your state has not established these laws, keep an eye out for the introduction of such bills as campaigns are being run in Illinois, Kentucky, Minnesota, Missouri, New York, Oregon, and Texas to further the adoption of programs like these.

Regardless of your company’s state, it’s important to remember that background screening is still crucial to effective onboarding. High-level crimes, those on the federal or international levels, and those linked to the National Sex Offender Registry will continue to be uncovered in any state.

For more information on sealed and expunged records, read Do Expunged Records Show Up on Background Checks?

 

Ban the Box Updates: What Employers Need to Know

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This article was originally published in June 2022. Updated November 2023.

By now, most HR professionals and hiring managers have heard of Ban the Box and the legislation that’s sweeping the nation. So, what are you doing to prepare for these changes? Are you confident that your onboarding process is up to date and compliant with the laws in place? Here we will help guide you in the direction to make sure your team is prepared for what is to come.

What are Ban the Box Laws?

In simplest terms, Ban the Box means that employers cannot ask on a job application or in certain parts of the hiring process about criminal history. For example, blanket statements like, “have you ever been convicted of a crime.”

These laws aim to put employers’ focus on applicants’ qualifications first, without blanket no-hire policies due to past criminal activity. In most cases, employers must wait until a conditional offer of employment is extended before asking about criminal history or conducting a background check.

On December 20, 2021, Congress enacted the Fair Chance Act. The purpose of the act is to give previous offenders a chance to find work in the United States Federal Government. The Fair Chance Act will “Ban the Box” asking about arrest and conviction history on job applicants for most Federal agencies and contractors. These questions and the background check cannot be started until the conditional job offer has been extended.

What steps can you take to be compliant?

Navigating Ban the Box laws can be confusing. We recommend, as a first step, consulting with your legal counsel. They’ll be able to look at your company profile, industry, and location to see what Ban the Box laws apply to you.

You’ll want to take that information and then review your job descriptions and applications. You’ll also want to be sure your hiring managers only ask about the criminal history during the correct time in the hiring process.

Whether these laws will apply to your organization depends on several factors:

  • Company size
  • Location(s) you hire in (city, county, and state)
  • Industry (different regulations can apply to education, childcare, health care, law enforcement, etc.)
  • Public vs private employer

Currently, 37 states and over 150 cities and counties have adopted similar laws.

While public employers appear to be moving to Ban the Box quicker than private employers, the lists continue to grow.

Currently, 15 states have Ban the Box laws in place for private employers. These include:

California, Colorado, Connecticut, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Washington.

Furthermore, over 20 cities and counties have Ban the Box laws in place for private employers. Some of these include:

Austin, TX; Baltimore, MD; Buffalo, NY; Chicago, IL; Columbia, MO; DeSoto, TX; District of Columbia; Kansas City, MO; Los Angeles, CA; Montgomery County, MD; New York­, NY; Philadelphia, PA; Portland, OR; Prince George’s County, MD; Rochester, NY; San Francisco, CA; Seattle, WA; Spokane, WA; St. Louis, MO; Suffolk County, NY; Waterloo, IA; and Westchester County, NY.

Check out the National Employment Law Project’s (NELP) detailed chart to see whether your city, county, or state has a policy or law.

What’s next?

It’s important to remember that background checks are still a crucial part of the hiring process. Not even the Federal Government, which has adopted Ban the Box entirely, is removing background screening from their hiring process. The safety of your employees, customers, and your organization’s reputation is still essential.

As these laws continue to sweep the country, it’s always best practice to ensure that your background check process is updated. Then, when it’s time to run the background check after a conditional job offer, you can keep things moving quickly.

One Source always recommends reviewing these five areas:

  • Background Check Policy
  • Disclosure
  • Authorization
  • Quality of Data
  • Adverse Action

Reach out to our team if you have any questions on ways you can follow compliance laws and regulations. Or you can learn more about how to stay compliant through our blog, Blueprint to a Compliant Background Check Process.