New ‘ban the box’ in Columbia, Mo. stops employers performing background checks prior to job offer

According to the National Employment Law Project, most ban-the-box laws allow federal or public employers to conduct background checks on job applicants after initial interviews are conducted, but prevent employers from asking on job applications if a candidate has been convicted of a crime. It is not very common for cities or states to push back the timeline of when companies may pursue background checks, but two cities have made that move. Columbia, Mo., introduced an ordinance that requires public companies to forego background checks until a conditional offer of employment has been made, in an attempt to further prevent discrimination against rehabilitated convicts. The only other city to put off background checks so late is Newark, N.J., which has the same law, though it also applies to private businesses, not just public businesses. The Columbia Chamber of Commerce voted in November to table the law for the time being, as several members had concerns about the wording of the ordinance. The Mayor’s Task Force on Community Violence recommended the ban-the-box law, and Task Force co-chairwoman and city councilwoman Laura Nauser said she supports the law in its current iteration. However, the main criticism toward the ordinance is that waiting so long to conduct background checks wastes employers’ time and money, if a criminal history would prevent a candidate from doing the job for which he or she is applying. Another city with late-coming background checks include San Francisco, whose law states that background checks may be conducted on candidates that are finalists for a position, before the offer is made. San Francisco also has restrictions on how far back employers may look for a criminal record, except for crimes such as homicide and sex offenses. That city-county underwent a year of negotiations in order to compromise on its current ban-the-box law. Thirteen states currently have statewide ban-the-box laws, and many more cities have their own laws.]]>