Ban the Box Law: Background Screening Update in Maryland The biggest challenges dealing with recruiting, interviewing, and hiring job candidates are the “Ban the Box” laws being adopted by multiple urban cities, states, and municipalities around the country. “Ban the Box” makes it illegal for employers to conduct a criminal record check or inquire whether they have a criminal history before they are given an offer of conditional employment. Annually, 650,000 American citizens serve criminal punishments and return to their families and society. For most, the hardest challenge they face is finding a suitable job, which helps them to rebuild their lives and stay away from repeating the same or new offenses. A prior record carries a stigma even in the most incarcerated nation in the world. It is a deterrent to many employers who would otherwise hire fully qualified job candidates. Many people with records often do not get the consideration they deserve because they are forced to check a box that requires disclosure of a criminal background, which disqualifies them before their job applications are even reviewed. This barrier to employment now impacts one in three Americans. When the state General Assembly convenes its 2020 session, members will take up hundreds of issues important to Marylanders’, and people among them will be a handful of holdovers from the 2019 legislative session. Gov. Larry Hogan vetoed eight bills that lawmakers put forth and passed last year, they are expected to weigh whether to override them in the coming weeks. One of those is “Ban the Box” law.
HB 994/SB 839: Banning the Box This measure, which passed along partisan lines, would prohibit private employers with 15 or more full-time employees from asking an applicant about their criminal history at any time before the first in-person interview. The “Ban the Box” law would allow an employer to ask such questions during that interview and would allow a fine up to $300 for employers who repeatedly neglect the provisions. Advocates of “Ban the Box” law said it would help people who have made mistakes in the past and who currently face tough odds while re-establishing themselves in society without gainful employment.
Governor Larry Hogan veto letter stated: Employers have the right, and often the need, to know the criminal history of applicants they may hire. Senate Bill 839/House Bill 994 prohibits businesses from requiring an applicant to disclose this important information until the first in-person interview. This would probably result in costly and time-consuming human resources work that ultimately goes nowhere. Maryland already has a “Ban the Box” statute affecting the state hiring; this bill would simply extend it to private-sector employers; they would still have an opportunity to consider a criminal record and pass on an applicant, they will just have to consider the person first. Stay tuned to know whether the veto will stand or be overturned…
If you would like to read the Ban the Box legislation, you can download the subtitle found in the City Code here: https://civilrights.baltimorecity.gov/sites/default/files/Fair%20Criminal-Record %20Screening%20Practices.pdf