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William W. Bowser, Editor; Scott A. Holt and Adria B. Martinelli,
Associate Editor
Young, Conaway, Stargatt & Taylor, LLP
Vol. 19, No. 6
June 2014
CRIMINAL RECORDS
Delaware joins the ban-the-box bandwagon
by Molly DiBianca
Criminal history records and credit scores will soon be off-limits for job
applications in Delaware's public sector. House Bill (HB) 167 passed
the Delaware Senate on May 1 and was signed by Governor Jack
Markell on May 8. HB 167 prohibits public employers and employers
with contracts with state agencies from "inquiring into or considering
the criminal record, criminal history, or credit history or score of an
applicant before it makes a conditional offer to the applicant."
Once a conditional offer of employment is made, employers may
perform a background check. However, employers "may only consider
felonies for 10 years from the completion of the sentence, and
misdemeanors for five years from the completion of the sentence."
Also, the bill requires employers to consider several factors when
deciding whether to revoke a conditional employment offer based on the
results of a criminal background check. The factors include the nature of
the crime, rehabilitation, and the crime's relation to the position being
sought.
The scope of HB 167 is broader than you might expect. It applies to
public employers (i.e., the state government) as well as "contractors
with state agencies." However, the bill provides an exception for
contractors that are subject to conflicting state or federal laws. For
example, childcare facilities that contract with the state will not be
subject to the new law because they are required by state law to comply
with background screening requirements.
The trend toward prohibiting employers from inquiring into applicants'
criminal histories or credit scores does not appear to be going away
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anytime soon. Although only public employers in Delaware will be
subject to the ban-the-box law for now, it may be just a matter of time
before the law is expanded to include private-sector employers as well.
For more information on the new law, see "Don't box me in! Delaware
lawmakers consider ban-the-box legislation" on pg. 1 of our March
2014 newsletter.
The author can be reached at [email protected].
Copyright 2014 M. Lee Smith Publishers LLC
DELAWARE EMPLOYMENT LAW LETTER does not attempt to offer
solutions to individual problems but rather to provide information about current
developments in Delaware employment law. Questions about individual problems
should be addressed to the employment law attorney of your choice.
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