Pennsylvania amended section 6344(m) of the Child Protective Services Law effective December 31, 2019. The law calls for specific requirements concerning background checks for employees who have contact with children, as well as a shorter exemption period to comply with the requirements, as long as specific conditions are met.

The City of Waterloo, Iowa passed the ban-the-box ordinance this week, making it the first city in Iowa to prevent private employers from asking candidates about criminal history prior to extending a conditional offer of employment. There was a lot of public input, so the final vote was postponed to this week.

The City of Columbia joined in with multiple other cities, states and municipalities and will no longer ask about criminal history on their initial employment application and will refrain from asking about previous salaries. The City is encouraging its vendors to follow suit. Read more here.

The Fifth Circuit determined that the EEOC’s guidance on considering arrest and conviction records in employment decisions amounts to a substantive rule and the agency doesn’t have the authority to create such a rule. Furthermore, the Fifth Circuit cited that the EEOC ran afoul of the Administrative Procedure Act by failing to provide notice to the public or allowing an opportunity to comment.

Illinois Public Act 101-0177 – was signed by the Governor J.B. Pritzker on July 31, 2019. This law takes effect 60 days from the date of signing and prohibits Illinois employers from asking candidates about their salary history during the hiring process. The law amends the Equal Pay Act of 2003, which specifically addressed pay discrimination on the basis of sex or race.  Read more here and here. This law is another example of the sweeping nationwide movement to ban-the-box and exclude candidate salary history disclosure during the hiring process.