Governor Jerry Brown of California in September 2016 signed AB 1843 into law. This new law prohibits employers from using certain juvenile criminal records as part of the pre-employment screening process. California is leading the way in protecting individual’s rights and giving young adults a better chance at achieving gainful employment by disregarding the juvenile offenses of their youth.
The new California statewide law amends the labor code by broadening the types of criminal background records that employers cannot use or have access to when evaluating whether or not to hire an employee. The law prohibits employers in California from inquiring about an applicant’s previous juvenile criminal record history making sure the employer cannot even consider certain juvenile criminal records as part of a hiring process. This holds true if the jurisdiction the criminal record was created in was a juvenile court and the criminal records apart of a person’s juvenile offense history. Under these conditions the juvenile records become off limits to employers when performing employment background checks on potential job applicants.
California Law AB 1843 updates the labor code in regards to the use of juvenile criminal records in the employment screening process.
From SHRM.com, the leading Human Resources industry group (posted Oct. 04, 16):
A.B. 1843 amends the labor code to broaden the types of “off limits” information that employers may not consider by prohibiting employers from inquiring about and considering information concerning or related to “an arrest, detention, process, diversion, supervision, adjudication, or court disposition” that occurred while the applicant or employee was subject to the process and jurisdiction of a juvenile court (juvenile offense history).
The bill also excludes from the labor code’s definition of “conviction” an adjudication by a juvenile court or any other court order or action taken with respect to a person who is under the process and jurisdiction of a juvenile court. shrm.org/resourcesandtools/legal-and-compliance/state-and-local-updates/pages/california-juvenile-records-.aspx
As new employment screening laws like ban-the-box and 1843 are enacted across the USA employers need to partner with a professional background screening company to help them become or remain compliant with all State and Federal laws governing the use of criminal records in the employment screening process. The FCRA (Fair Credit Reporting Act), EEOC (Equal Employment Opportunity Commission) and now State Laws outlining the proper use of performing criminal background checks as part of a pre-employment background check come into law it makes since to work with a professional background screening company to stay legally compliant.
As employers begin to take notice of these new laws they need to complimentary make all necessary changes to their existing employment screening practices to stay current with an ever evolving legal structure. By prohibiting the use of juvenile criminal records from being considered in the hiring process California has made it easier for individuals with a juvenile criminal past to get a job. This new law is in line with a bigger national movement aimed at making it easier for all individuals with a criminal past to achieve gainful employment and then hopefully to avoid recidivism.
To learn more about the new California Law A.B. 1843 and how it aims to prevent employers from using juvenile criminal records in their consideration for employment and how laws in the USA are changing in favor of individuals with criminal pasts read recent CriminalBackgroundRecords.com press release.