Employers May Not Request Juvenile Criminal History in Employment Application

California restricts the type of questions employers may ask job applicants about their criminal history. Employers may not request information about a felony or serious criminal misdemeanor which has been judicially expunged, dismissed or ordered sealed and employers may only seek information about criminal convictions when job-related and consistent with business necessity. For example, hiring for a finance manager or chief financial officer would almost certainly justify asking for criminal history relating to theft, embezzlement, and similar crimes. See, Using Criminal Records in Job Screening (June, 2012).

California is now attempting to give workers with a juvenile criminal record an opportunity to demonstrate they can be rehabilitated, through Assembly Bill (AB) 1843 which amends Labor Code section 432.7.

Effective January 1, 2017, this new law forbids most employers from asking in an employment application or otherwise obtaining information relating to an arrest, detention, processing diversion, supervision, adjudication, or court disposition that occurred while the person was under the jurisdiction of a juvenile court.

AB 1843 clarifies that a “conviction” does not include any court action concerning a person who is currently under the process and jurisdiction of the juvenile court.

The law allows limited exceptions for certain health care facilities.

Employers that hire employees in California should promptly review and update their employment application forms and policies in order to comply with the new law.

For further information, please contact Tim Bowles, Cindy Bamforth or Helena Kobrin.

Cindy Bamforth

January 12, 2017