Starting after Labor Day, employers with jobs located in the unincorporated areas of the County of Los Angeles, including work-from-home and hybrid positions, must comply with the County’s fair chance hiring ordinance.  The ordinance, which imposes obligations well beyond existing federal and state law, and which extends to contractor and freelance workers, will take effect on Tuesday, September 3, 2024.  It adds to the many and considerable headaches employers already have regarding criminal background checks in California.

Beginning September 3, 2024, the County’s Department of Consumer and Business Affairs (DCBA) will post the specific notice required by the ordinance and sample documents.  The DCBA’s website is here.  As it stands now, the website has a different posting, one not intended for use with the fair chance hiring ordinance, and otherwise states it is “under construction.”

Recommendations

Employers with operations in, or that do business or have contracts with, the County, at a minimum, should evaluate necessary changes in when and how they inquire into criminal history during the hiring process.  They should also consider whether to undertake a broader (and privileged) assessment to strengthen their compliance with federal, state, and local employment laws that regulate use of a candidate’s criminal history.  Suggested action items for employers with employees in the County and other jurisdictions having ban-the-box laws are as follows:

• Review and update job applications and related forms for impermissible inquiries regarding criminal records;
• Review and update workplace postings to help ensure all required postings are included;
• Review and update company webpages for necessary additions about fair chance hiring;
• Provide training to recruiters and other personnel involved in posting job openings;
• Provide training to personnel who conduct job interviews and make or influence hiring and staffing decisions to explain permissible inquiries into, and uses of, criminal history;
• Provide training to personnel involved in ordering and adjudicating background reports;
• Review written and electronic communications about the hiring process, including conditional job offer templates and pre-adverse action and adverse action notices;
• Plan for the requirement to prepare additional documentation for the individualized assessment and record retention;
• Plan for delays in staffing openings due to delays in receiving background reports; and
• Review the hiring and screening process to help ensure compliance, including the timing of background checks, the distribution of mandatory notices, and the application of mandatory deferral periods.