INDUSTRY NEWS
California enacts law to prohibit employers from inquiring about applicants’ juvenile records
California recently amended its labor code to prohibit employers from considering certain juvenile records when making employment decisions. The law will go into effect on Jan. 1, 2017.
The California Labor Code, subject to certain exceptions, currently prohibits private or public sector employers from considering information concerning:
- an arrest or detention that did not result in a conviction;
- a referral to or participation in, any pretrial or post-trial diversion program; and
- a conviction that has been judicially dismissed or ordered sealed.
Assembly Bill No. 1843 will widen the information that employers may not consider to include asking an applicant to disclose, or from utilizing as a factor in determining any condition of employment, information concerning or related to an arrest, detention, processing, diversion, supervision, adjudication or court disposition that occurred while the person was subject to the process and jurisdiction of juvenile court law.
The law firm Littler Mendelson P.C. recommends that California employers that use or are considering using criminal records to screen applicants or employees should consider reviewing their policies and practices to ensure that “off-limits” information is not being requested or considered.
The full text of the law can be found here.
Source: Littler Mendelson P.C., 10/3/2016