Seattle employers are about to become much more restricted in their ability to inquire into or act upon the criminal records of applicants and employees. On November 1st, the Seattle Job Assistance Ordinance, SMC 14.17, takes effect and will apply to positions that are based in Seattle at least half of the time. The Ordinance does not apply to governmental employers (with the exception of the City of Seattle) or to positions involving law enforcement, crime prevention, security, criminal justice, private investigation, or unsupervised access to children under the age of sixteen or to vulnerable or developmentally disabled adults.
The Ordinance imposes the following new restrictions on the hiring process:
- Advertisements for positions cannot state that applicants with criminal records will not be considered or otherwise categorically exclude such applicants;
- The employer cannot implement any policy or practice that automatically excludes all applicants with criminal histories;
- The employer must complete an initial screening process to weed out any unqualified candidates before the employer can question applicants about their criminal histories or run criminal background checks on applicants;
- The employer cannot refuse to hire an applicant solely because he or she has an arrest record (as opposed to a conviction record); and
- The employer cannot refuse to hire an applicant solely because of his or her conviction record, conduct underlying his or her arrest record, or pending criminal charges unless the employer has a legitimate business reason to do so.
Continue Reading New Seattle Job Assistance Ordinance Limits Employers’ Reliance on Criminal Records
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