Rancho Mesa's Alyssa Burley and Client Communications Coordinator Megan Lockhart discuss California’s new updates to employee criminal history regulations.

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Director/Host: ⁠⁠⁠Alyssa Burley⁠⁠⁠

Guest: ⁠⁠⁠Megan Lockhart⁠⁠⁠

Producer/Editor: ⁠⁠⁠Lauren Stumpf⁠⁠⁠

Music: "Home" by JHS Pedals, “News Room News” by Spence

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Transcript

Alyssa Burley: Hi. This is Alyssa Burley with Rancho Mesa's Media Communications and Client Services Department. Thank you for listening to today's top Rancho Mesa News, brought to you by our Safety and Risk Management Network StudioOne. Welcome back, everyone. My guest is Megan Lockhart, Client Communications Coordinator with Rancho Mesa. Today, we're going to talk about California's new updates to employee criminal history regulations. Megan, welcome to the show.

Megan Lockhart: Thanks for having me, Alyssa.

AB: Of course. So these new standards come as an update to the California Fair Employment and Housing Act, which applies to businesses with five or more employees. So, Megan, can you outline the updates that were just added?

ML: Yeah. So this law regarding criminal history was updated in early October of 2023. It expands the definition of applicant to include any employees who pursue or intend to pursue a new position in the company and also those being reviewed due to a change in the company management or ownership. And the changes make a greater push to decrease the role criminal backgrounds play in employment decisions. So, for example, another update is that employers are prohibited fr

om stating in job postings that they won't hire applicants with criminal backgrounds, so they can't state on the application things like “No felons” or “must have a clean record.”

AB: All right. So it seems like this law update is designed in a sense to try and even the playing field between those applying for the job with or without a criminal history. So employers don't disregard someone solely on their criminal history without looking at their other qualifications. And during the interview process, what if the applicant voluntarily shares their criminal history, does the new law say anything about handling that situation?

ML: Yeah, so it does. If an applicant shares their criminal history voluntarily and is otherwise qualified for the job, the employer can't take their criminal history into consideration until a conditional job offer has been made to the individual.

AB: Is there anything else that was added that employers should be aware of?

ML: Yeah. The update also states that if a licensing, regulatory or government agency or board gives the applicant the right to perform the job duties such as in the form of like a certification, the employer shouldn't consider their criminal history a disqualifying factor for the prospective job.

AB: Okay, so the law is saying that if the applicant was able to become certified for the job through some sort of governing body that is supposed to show that their criminal record didn't disqualify them from being eligible to hold that position, therefore, the employer shouldn't consider it in the hiring process.

ML: Yes, exactly.

AB: All right. Well, this is some good information for employers to know as they are hiring new employees moving forward. Are there any resources with the state provides for employers on this matter?

ML: Yeah, The California Civil Rights Department provides sample notices employers can use to communicate how their criminal history will affect the company’s decision making. And for any questions regarding these updates, clients can contact their client technology coordinator. Or they can also access our RM365 HRAdvantage Portal™, which has information about recent law objects such as these.

AB: All right. We'll include a link to those notices from California State website in the episode notes. Megan, thank you for joining me in StudioOne.

ML: Of course, thanks, Alyssa.

AB: This is Alyssa Burley with Rancho Mesa. Thanks for tuning into our latest episode produced by StudioOne. For more information, visit us at ranchomesa.com, and subscribe to our weekly newsletter.