Each state has a host of new employment and labor related laws that take effect in 2014. This series focuses on several new laws from around the country that are of particular interest. In this instance, this note focuses on a new regulation that affects many San Francisco based employers.
After
several other states and cities have passed "Ban the Box" measures recently, New Jersey has followed suit and passed a law of their own
that applies to all employers, both public and private, that employ 15 or more employees over 20 calendar weeks. The Opportunity to Compete Act of 2014 (the official name of New Jersey's Ban the Box legislation) prohibits covered employers from inquiring about an applicant's criminal record until a few steps have been completed: 1) an interview has been conducted; 2) a determination has been made that the applicant is qualified for the position; and 3) the employer has selected the applicant as its first choice to fill the position.
With that being said, even after the initial employment application process is complete, employers are still prohibited from inquiring into expunged criminal records, arrests that did not end in conviction, disorderly conduct convictions in which the date of sentence or release from jail occurred five or more years earlier, and conviction of crimes of the fourth degree in which the date of sentence or the release from jail occurred 10 or more years earlier. Exceptions to this law are in place, however, for certain positions including law enforcement, corrects, the judiciary, homeland security, or emergency management.
With that being said, even after the initial employment application process is complete, employers are still prohibited from inquiring into expunged criminal records, arrests that did not end in conviction, disorderly conduct convictions in which the date of sentence or release from jail occurred five or more years earlier, and conviction of crimes of the fourth degree in which the date of sentence or the release from jail occurred 10 or more years earlier. Exceptions to this law are in place, however, for certain positions including law enforcement, corrects, the judiciary, homeland security, or emergency management.
Unlike D.C.'s Ban the Box legislation which requires approval by D.C. Mayor Vincent Gray and by Congress before it becomes law, New Jersey's Ban the Box legislation will become effective March 1, 2015.
Additional information on the topic can be found here: http://www.njleg.state.nj.us/2014/Bills/A2000/1999_I1.HTM
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