U.S. Senate Committee recently gave unanimous approval to proposed legislation that would bar federal contractors from asking applicants for criminal history record information until a conditional offer of employment has been made.
S. 2021, the “Fair Chance to Compete for Jobs Act of 2015,” was approved by the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Government Affairs by voice vote on October 7, 2015.
A number of states have adopted their own laws prohibiting employers from asking about applicant criminal history information at the application stage, popularly known as “ban-the-box” laws. S. 2021 is the first federal bill to receive serious consideration, and would go into effect two years after it is signed with respect to new federal contracts entered into or modified after that date. As drafted, the bill’s prohibitions would apply only to applicants for positions related to work under a covered contract.