Recently Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) and Rep. David Trone (D-MD) presented the Workforce Justice Act, an act that would mandate the removal of the criminal history question on employment applications. The time may be now for a successful passage of the Workforce Justice Act, and hiring managers should take immediate note, ensure their hiring policies are current, and work with a well-qualified third-party pre-employment background screening agency to remain compliant with laws governing hiring.

Ban-the-Box legislation has grown since the first bill emerged from Hawaii over 20 years ago. During the corresponding years many states and local municipalities have enacted similar laws requiring an elimination of the criminal past question on employment applications.

From HRDive.com on March 3, 2021:

There’s a growing push in the U.S. to remove the barriers standing in the way of job seekers with criminal histories.

States and cities have adopted ban-the-box legislation, which prohibits employers from requiring applicants to indicate whether they have a criminal history record. ^{hrdive.com/news/2nd-cir-wont-reconsider-whether-criminal-history-hiring-ban-disparately-i/596058/}

In early March of this year Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) and David Trone (D-MD) introduced the Work Justice Act into Congress.

From a press release from the Office of David Trone, on March 3, 2021:

Ahead of the House of Representatives’ historic vote on the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, Congressman David Trone (MD-06) and Congresswoman Maxine Waters (CA-43) introduced the Workforce Justice Act, which would encourage states to ‘ban the box’ on employment applications nationwide and give justice-impacted individuals a greater chance of gaining employment. ^{trone.house.gov/media/press-releases/reps-trone-waters-introduce-historic-legislation-ban-box-employment}

Changing how the question of criminal history and related criminal history reports will be a significant move. For companies large and small this may cause considerable concern. However, at some point after the initial employment application is filled out employers can pull criminal history reports on potential hires depending on how the ban-the-box legislation works in their jurisdiction, sometimes only after an initial offer is made can a criminal report be pulled.

To read more about this subject read recent press release: Growing Push for National Ban-the-Box Law Should Alert Hiring Managers