In an important victory for formerly-incarcerated workers fighting employment discrimination, Calif. Gov. Jerry Brown signed Assembly Bill 1008 into law on October 14, establishing some of the strongest “Ban the Box” legislation in the country. Brown’s signature can be attributed to tireless organizing on the part of formerly incarcerated individuals and their advocates. One of the …
This morning Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced that the Trump administration will “wind down,” and in six months, end Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), a Department of Homeland Security initiative put in place in 2012 that temporarily deferred the deportation of approximately 800,000 young immigrants who were brought to the United States as children. DACA has …
Companies in the nation’s second-largest city must stop requiring job applicants to disclose criminal convictions on hiring forms next year after Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti signed a “Ban the Box” law there on Friday. The law does not prevent companies from conducting background checks once they have made a conditional job offer to a …
Los Angeles bans criminal history checkboxes on job applications Read More »
Consider the following hypothetical. You own a restaurant and you’re looking for an assistant to the head chef. The applicant needs to be able to cook, yes. But the position also requires administrative skills – ordering, inventory, relationships with vendors and staff. Creativity with the menu would be a plus. A woman comes with lots …
When it dismissed a federal lawsuit last week, the U.S. District Court for Maryland made it even harder for workers with poor credit histories and past criminal convictions to find a job. Civil rights advocates hope the decision is not a bellwether for similar cases pending around the country. The lawsuit, brought by the federal Equal Employment …
EEOC loses battle (but not war) on discriminatory background checks Read More »
Nevada has just joined the ranks of 9 other states that have outlawed the use of credit history to discriminate against potential employees. However, they’re still a minority. Still, there’s a clear trend in the states. According to the National Conference of State Legislators, “42 bills in 24 states and the District of Columbia have …
Your Rights Regarding Pre-employment Credit Checks Read More »
Madeline Messa is a 3L at Syracuse University College of Law. She graduated from Penn State with a degree in journalism. With her legal research and writing for Workplace Fairness, she strives to equip people with the information they need to be their own best advocate.
