Seattle City Council Approves Ordinance Prohibiting Questions about Criminal History in Initial Job Application

Seattle City Council Approves Ordinance Prohibiting Questions about Criminal History in Initial Job Application

The Seattle City Council voted unanimously on Monday, June 10, 2013, to prohibit employers from asking job applicants about their criminal history until after the initial screening process. The passage of the legislation, which was introduced as the “Job Assistance Bill,” reflects the growing trend to legislate wages, benefits and employer requirements within local jurisdictions.

Under the new ordinance, employers may only ask about an individual’s criminal history after they have completed an initial screening to eliminate unqualified applicants. Employers are also prohibited from rejecting an applicant or penalizing an employee because of a criminal record without a “legitimate business reason.” The city’s Office for Civil Rights will enforce the rule and can impose a $1,000 fine for violations.

The ordinance goes into effect November 1, 2013, and applies to employees who will work at least 50 percent of the time in Seattle.

In the Duff on Hospitality Law Blog, Jared Van Kirk of Garvey Schubert Barer’s Labor and Employment group, discusses the full impact of the law. He notes:

The ordinance also restricts the actions employers can take based on criminal history information. Employers must make changes to their internal hiring, discipline, and discharge policies and procedures to be consistent with these limitations. Employers may not take any adverse action based solely on an arrest, but may inquire about the circumstances related to the arrest. Employers may not reject an applicant or discipline or discharge an employee based on conduct that led to an arrest, conviction, or pending charge without a “legitimate business reason.” A “legitimate business reason” is a good faith belief that that the nature of the underlying criminal conduct will negatively impact the applicant’s or employee’s ability to perform the job or will cause harm or injury to people, property, business reputation, or business assets. Read the full blog post here.

Additional Information on Seattle’s Job Assistance Ordinance

Full text of City of Seattle Council Bill Number 117796

Job assistance ordinance update (Duff on Hospitality Law, June 11, 2013)

Council: No criminal background checks early in hiring process (SeattlePI.com, June 10, 2013)

Seattle criminal-background-check proposal well-meaning, misguided (Seattle Times, June 9, 2013)