Ban the Box Laws: State, Local, and Federal Fair Chance Rules

Ban the box laws are state, local, and federal rules that stop employers from asking about your criminal record on the initial job application, and often for some time after that. The name comes from the checkbox that used to appear on paper applications asking whether you had ever been convicted of a crime. More than 37 states and over 150 cities and counties have passed some version of these fair chance hiring policies. Coverage, timing, and exemptions differ from place to place, so the same job can be governed by very different rules depending on where it sits.

Who These Laws Cover

Government agencies were the first to adopt fair chance hiring, and public sector coverage remains the most common form these laws take. In states that have acted, the restrictions typically reach all state agencies, departments, and commissions, and often extend to counties and municipalities. A job in a public works department, a state university, or a county clerk’s office is almost always subject to some version of the rule.

Private sector coverage is less common but growing. Roughly a dozen states plus the District of Columbia require private employers to follow fair chance rules. Where private employers are covered, the law often applies only above a certain workforce size, sometimes around 10 or 15 employees, which leaves the smallest businesses out. Other jurisdictions apply the rule to every private employer regardless of headcount.

Companies hiring in multiple cities or states face the hardest compliance picture. A business based somewhere with no fair chance law may still need to follow one when hiring for a position located in a city that has its own ordinance. The obligation attaches to where the job is, not to where the company is headquartered.

The Federal Fair Chance to Compete Act

The Fair Chance to Compete for Jobs Act of 2019 created a federal ban the box rule for civilian positions in the executive branch, including the U.S. Postal Service and the Executive Office of the President. Under the law, no federal employee involved in hiring may ask an applicant to disclose criminal history record information before extending a conditional offer of employment.¹ The definition of criminal history for this statute is broad and includes sealed records, expunged records, and juvenile adjudications.²

The Act carves out several categories where criminal history can be reviewed earlier: roles requiring access to classified information, sensitive national security positions, and federal law enforcement officer positions.³ Federal employees who ask prohibited questions too early can face suspension without pay or fines of up to $1,000 per infraction.⁴

When an Employer Can Ask About Your Record

Every ban the box law controls timing. At minimum, they remove the conviction-history checkbox from written and electronic applications, protecting the initial phase for evaluation of qualifications, experience, and skills alone.

How far past the application the restriction extends is where the laws diverge. Some let employers ask right after an initial interview. Stronger versions bar any inquiry until after a conditional offer has been extended, meaning the employer has decided you are the person they want, subject to final checks like a background investigation, drug screening, or medical clearance. At that stage, a conviction turning up in a background check does not automatically end things. It triggers a further evaluation.

The EEOC’s guidance discourages blanket disqualification policies. Automatically rejecting every applicant with any conviction likely violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, because criminal records disproportionately affect certain racial and ethnic groups. To meet the “job related and consistent with business necessity” standard, the EEOC directs employers to weigh the nature and gravity of the offense, the time that has passed since the offense or completion of the sentence, and the nature of the job sought. The employer is then expected to run an individualized assessment: notify you that you may be excluded, give you a chance to respond, and consider whether your explanation changes the outcome.⁵ Many state and local fair chance laws have written that assessment into their own statutes, making it a legal obligation rather than a recommendation.

Records an Employer Cannot Consider

Timing is only half of it. Fair chance laws also restrict the kinds of records an employer can weigh, no matter when the question comes up.

Arrests Without Convictions

Most fair chance laws prohibit employers from considering arrests that did not lead to a conviction. The EEOC has stated that exclusion based on arrest records is not consistent with business necessity, because the fact of an arrest does not establish that criminal conduct occurred.⁵ Charges that were dropped, dismissed, or ended in acquittal should not factor into a hiring decision.

Sealed and Expunged Records

When a court seals or expunges a record, the legal effect for most employment purposes is that the event is treated as though it never happened. Employers who pull those records through a background check and use them against you are typically violating state law. If a background report is surfacing sealed or expunged information, the reporting company itself may be out of compliance and failing to keep its databases current.

Juvenile Adjudications

Records from the juvenile system get strong protection in the majority of fair chance jurisdictions. Because the incidents happened when the person was a minor, the law generally keeps them from affecting adult employment. Even in states without a comprehensive ban the box statute, separate laws often restrict employer access to juvenile records.

Decriminalized Offenses

A growing number of jurisdictions prohibit employers from considering convictions for offenses that have since been decriminalized, most commonly simple marijuana possession. Some go further and exclude other low-level infractions. Which offenses are covered varies by location.

Jobs That Are Exempt

Fair chance protections do not reach every job, even in states that have adopted strong laws. Certain roles carry mandatory background check requirements under separate federal or state statutes, and those requirements override ban the box restrictions. If you are applying for one of these, expect the criminal history question early.

Banking and financial services. Section 19 of the Federal Deposit Insurance Act prohibits anyone convicted of a crime involving dishonesty, breach of trust, or money laundering from working at an FDIC-insured bank without prior written consent from the FDIC.⁶ Banks must conduct a documented inquiry into each applicant’s history before allowing them to start.⁷ Limited exceptions exist for small-dollar or older offenses.

Law enforcement and national security. Federal law enforcement officer positions, roles requiring access to classified information, and sensitive national security positions are all exempt from the federal Fair Chance to Compete Act.³ State and local laws similarly exempt sworn law enforcement and corrections officer positions. Private security roles requiring state licensure usually mandate full criminal history disclosure through the licensing process.

Childcare and work with vulnerable populations. Federal law requires comprehensive background checks for child care workers at facilities receiving Child Care and Development Fund subsidies, covering anyone paid to care for, supervise, or have unsupervised access to children, along with adults living in a family child care home.⁸ Many states impose parallel requirements for healthcare workers serving elderly or disabled populations.

Background Check Rights That Apply Everywhere

Even in states with no ban the box law at all, the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act creates protections whenever an employer uses a third-party company to run a background check. These rules apply nationwide and function as a floor beneath state and local fair chance protections.

Before an employer can order a background report on you, they need your written permission, and the authorization has to be a standalone document rather than fine print in the application.⁹

If the employer decides to take adverse action based on what the report shows, whether that means rejecting your application, pulling an offer, or denying a promotion, they must follow a two-step notice process. Before the final decision, they have to give you a copy of the report and a written summary of your FCRA rights.¹⁰ That pre-adverse action notice is your window to review the report for errors and dispute inaccuracies with the reporting company. After the final decision, the employer must send a separate adverse action notice naming the reporting company, confirming that the company did not make the hiring decision, and telling you that you can request a free copy of the report within 60 days.¹¹

Employers cut corners here often. Skipping the pre-adverse action notice, or sending both notices at the same time, violates the FCRA and can expose the employer to a private lawsuit regardless of whether any ban the box law applies. If you were rejected after a background check and never got a copy of the report first, your rights were probably violated.

What to Do If an Employer Breaks the Rule

If you believe an employer violated a fair chance law, whether by asking about your record on the application, raising it during an interview before the legally permitted stage, or rejecting you without an individualized assessment, you can file a complaint with the enforcement agency responsible for that law. The EEOC handles Title VII claims. State or local civil rights agencies handle violations of their own fair chance ordinances.

Start documenting right away. Get the employer’s exact legal name and address from the job posting or official filings, not a casual abbreviation. Record the date and location of the incident. For a digital application, screenshot the page showing the prohibited question, with the URL and timestamp visible. For an in-person interview, write down the name and job title of the person who asked and do it while your memory is fresh. Keep every email, text, rejection letter, offer, and rescission. If the employer sent a pre-adverse action notice, save it. If they did not, the absence is evidence too.

Most agencies accept complaints through online portals, and you can also file by certified mail with return receipt requested for a paper trail. Filing deadlines vary widely, from as few as 30 days for some federal employee complaints to as long as three years in certain state jurisdictions. Missing the deadline forfeits the claim, so check the time limit for your specific law before doing anything else.³

For charges filed with the EEOC, the agency notifies the employer within 10 days. Investigations take roughly 10 months on average, though mediation can resolve a charge in under three months.¹² Successful claims can result in placement in the job you were denied, back pay and benefits, changes to the employer’s hiring practices, and compensatory damages for out-of-pocket costs and emotional harm. In cases of reckless or malicious conduct, punitive damages may also be available, and attorney’s fees and court costs can be recovered on top.¹³ Many state and local fair chance laws also carry their own per-violation fines against the employer and mandatory changes to application materials and hiring procedures.

1
Congress.gov. H.R.1076 – Fair Chance Act – 116th Congress
2
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 5 USC 9201 – Definitions
3
U.S. Department of the Treasury. The Fair Chance to Compete Act
4
Office of Congressional Workplace Rights. Ban the Box Applicant Rights – Fair Chance to Compete for Jobs Act
5
U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Enforcement Guidance on the Consideration of Arrest and Conviction Records in Employment Decisions Under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act
6
FDIC. Section 19 – Penalty for Unauthorized Participation by Convicted Individual
7
eCFR. Title 12, Part 303 – Filing Procedures, Subpart L
8
Administration for Children and Families. CCDBG Act Comprehensive Background Check Requirements
9
Federal Trade Commission. Employer Background Checks and Your Rights
10
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1681b – Permissible Purposes of Consumer Reports
11
Federal Trade Commission. Using Consumer Reports – What Employers Need to Know
12
U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. What You Can Expect After You File a Charge
13
U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Remedies for Employment Discrimination