State of Washington Passes The Fair Chance Act

UPDATE: The Fair Chance Act goes into effect on June 6, 2018. On that date employers in the state of Washington may only ask about a person's arrest or conviction history once the an employer has determined that a candidate is qualified for the position in question.

Penalties include a notice for the first violation, a fine of $750 for a second violation, and a fine of $1,000 for each subsequent violation. Once again, it's vital employers review all hiring procedures to ensure compliance with this new law and other laws like it.
 

Washington Governor Jay Inslee recently signed The Fair Chance Act into law. This new law is the State of Washington’s version of ‘ban the box’. This law is an effort to provide former criminal offenders a better opportunity to successfully find employment by prohibiting employers in Washington from asking criminal history questions on an application. Advocates of the law claim that asking for the criminal history of the applicant prior to an interview unjustly discriminates against that applicant because there is potentially no opportunity to explain their qualifications and mitigate their prior offenses. Too many people fear employers simply do not interview applicants if there is admission of a criminal history.

Another reason the State of Washington passed this ‘ban the box’ law is to have a law that covers employers for the entire state and avoid individual cities from passing their own versions of ‘ban the box’.  These laws among cities inevitably have some variance from each other and a state law would eliminate confusion among employers about what their obligations would be.

‘Ban the box’ laws have become prevalent within the United States, and employers should assume that more states and municipalities will adopt similar laws. Even if your business is currently not subject to a ‘ban the box’ law, it would be a wise decision to review your applications and hiring procedures to account for a change that is surely coming your way. It’s generally better to prepare for a change and be ready then wait until a newly passed laws forces you to.

Link for more information: Washington State’s New Ban-the-Box Law Completes the West Coast Trend

Comments

Blog post currently doesn't have any comments.

Add Your Comment