The ban-the-box initiative is a legislative movement across the United States making it so employers must remove the criminal history checkbox on their job application forms. The laws that have been created and those currently under review are very different from each other and causing significant confusion. Some States allow for criminal history questions and criminal background checks to be conducted after the first phase of employment screening (typically after the first interview). The common component to ban-the-box laws is that the employer cannot pull a criminal history check until after the initial phase in the employment screening process. This means removing the “Criminal History” checkbox from the job application. Then depending on the City, County or State the employer resides criminal background checks can then be performed. Sometimes a criminal check cannot be pulled until a conditional offer of employment has been made as in the case with Hawaii. Employers need to know how the laws in their location and State handle ban-the-box legislation and partnering with a third party background screening company is a great way to start. To read more about this subject read recent press release found at: http://www.criminalbackgroundrecords.com/news/2014-1-13-Background-Screening-Trends-2014.html