San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance Poster
11/01/18
Author: ADP Admin/Wednesday, October 31, 2018/Categories: California
Overview: San Francisco has amended its Fair Chance Ordinance (“FCO”), which restricts the use of criminal histories to make employment decisions. The FCO poster is now available and must be posted immediately.
Effective Date: October 1, 2018
Details:
Employer Coverage:
As of October 1, 2018, the FCO applies to employers with five or more employees. The FCO previously applied to employers with 20 or more employees.
Poster: The new FCO Poster must be posted at each workplace or job site as of October 1, 2018. The amended FCO applies to employers citywide with 5 or more employees and City contractors of any size. The poster must be posted in English, Spanish, Chinese, and any language spoken by at least 5% of the employees at the workplace. Employers must also provide a copy of the poster to each applicant or employee before the employer conducts a background check.
Restrictions on Criminal History Inquiries:
The FCO now prohibits employers from inquiring about an individual’s conviction history until after a conditional offer of employment. Under the amended FCO, employers are also prohibited from inquiring about or basing employment decisions on convictions for decriminalized behavior, including convictions for the non-commercial use and cultivation of marijuana.
Penalties:
The penalties for violations of the FCO has also changed. The City now has the ability to impose penalties on a first violation and workers have a private right of action to pursue complaints.
Action Required:
- Post the new FCO Poster and provide a copy of the poster to each applicant or employee before the employer conducts a background check.
- Review job applications and remove any questions about an applicant’s criminal history. Note: Our current model employment application does not contain any criminal history questions and can be found on FormSource/Forms Library.
- Establish a protocol for obtaining and considering limited criminal history information, performing individualized assessments of that information, and notifying any applicant who is disqualified because of criminal history. You can review our Background Checks Toolkit available on FormSource/Forms Library in the pre-employment section for more information.
As always, please be sure to contact your HR Business Partner if you have any questions.
This content provides practical information concerning the subject matter covered and is provided with the understanding that ADP is not rendering legal advice.
*Produced in cooperation with Jackson Lewis P.C.
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