What happened?

On December 20, 2023, Philadelphia’s city mayor signed Bill 230571, amending its Fair Criminal Record Screening Standards.

What are the details? 

The amended Ordinance prohibits: 

(1) inquiries on employment applications regarding arrests and convictions 

(2) inquiries and personnel decisions based on records of an arrest that did not result in a conviction. 

The purpose of this is to increase the hiring and reduce the recidivism of qualified ex-offenders through employment.

The aim of this initiative is to provide more job opportunities for qualified ex-offenders and reduce the likelihood of them returning to prison. It is illegal for employers to reject an applicant or terminate an employee based on a conviction that has been overturned.

Business Considerations 

• Create or update your background check policies and practices regarding the “Ban the Box” provisions. 
• You may want to ensure how to oversee situations in which a candidate identifies that an offense falls in a post-conviction relief before potentially denying employment based on such a record.

Resources:

• Bill 230571 – Amendment to the Fair Criminal Record Screening Standards (Chapter 9-3500)
• Chapter 9-3500. Fair Criminal Records Screening Standards
• Fair Criminal Record Screening Standards Ordinance

Source References

• The City of Philadelphia Strengthens Its Ban on the Box (Rubin, Fortunato & Harbison P.C.)
• New Pennsylvania Legislation and Philadelphia Ordinance Amendment Tackle Pardoned Convictions, Expunged Records, and Negligent Hiring Liability (Littler Mendelson P.C.)

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