Plain English Breakdown
The official status indicates this bill was ordered to an inactive file at the request of Assembly Member Lee; therefore, it may not be effective law.
AB-2095: Rules for Checking Job Applicants' Criminal Records
This law changes how employers with five or more employees can ask about and use an applicant's criminal history when hiring.
What This Bill Does
- Defines the term 'conviction or arrest record'.
- Requires employers to provide a list of specific job duties before asking for consent to run a background check or starting one.
- Prohibits employers from making applicants pay for their own criminal history background checks.
- Stops employers from requiring applicants to share details about past convictions at any time during the hiring process, including providing documentary evidence related to conviction history or rehabilitation.
- Requires employers to demonstrate via an individualized assessment that a conviction has a direct and adverse relationship with job duties before denying an applicant based on that record.
- Removes the exemption that previously allowed farm labor contractors to ignore these rules.
Who It Names or Affects
- Employers with five or more employees
- Job applicants who have criminal records
- Farm labor contractors, as they are no longer exempt from these requirements
Terms To Know
- Conditional offer of employment
- A job offer that depends on the results of a background check or other final steps.
- Individualized assessment
- A specific review by an employer to decide if a past crime is directly related to the duties of a specific job and justifies denying employment.
- Rebuttable presumption
- A rule that assumes a conviction does not have a direct relationship with the job unless proven otherwise, specifically when an applicant has completed their sentence or holds required licenses.
Limits and Unknowns
- The law still allows employers to deny applicants for positions where state or federal laws require criminal background checks.
- Employers may temporarily suspend an employee with pay while they follow these new rules, and this is not considered a negative action against the worker.