Washington Governor Jay Inslee signed the Fair Chance Act, also fervidly known as “Ban the Box†into Law on Tuesday, March 13th, making it the 11th State to adopt fair hiring policies. With the exception of certain law enforcements or criminal justice agencies, any persons who will have unsupervised access to children or vulnerable adults, and non-employee volunteers, Washington employers can no longer inquire about arrests and convictions until first determining if the applicant is overall qualified for the job position. Additionally, employers are required to advertise job openings in a way that does not exclude individuals with criminal records from applying.
As of 2018, over a million people in the state of Washington have a criminal record, and Governor Inslee is one of the many residents who wanted to do away with the box once and for all, taking to his Twitter to announce:
“Today I signed legislation to ‘ban the box’ so job seekers can have a fair chance at a new start. People who have served their time need to have a chance to be employed again. This legislation will help many in Washington. Pleased to sign the bill today. #walegâ€
In addition to Washington, the following States have also banned the box:
- California
- Connecticut
- Hawaii
- Illinois
- Massachusetts
- Minnesota
- New Jersey
- Oregon
- Rhode Island
- Vermont
