Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) prohibits pre-employment inquiry into criminal history by public employers and private employers with five or more employees until after a conditional offer has been made. Thereafter, employers may not consider non-conviction records, convictions that have been dismissed or set aside, pardoned convictions and convictions for which an individual has received a COR. FEHA also requires employers to conduct individualized assessments to determine whether conviction has a “direct and adverse relationship with the specific duties of the job,” to notify an applicant in the event of denial (though no reasons need be given), and allow the applicant to respond.
State licensing boards may not base denial on a conviction that is not “substantially related” to the qualifications for the license. It also may not deny if charges have been dismissed or set aside, if the applicant has received a Certificate of Rehabilitation, or if the person is “deemed rehabilitated” by published licensing board standards. Investigative Consumer Reporting Agencies Act limits reporting by background checking companies.
