New Jersey residents who have run into trouble with the law have likely experienced many long-lasting consequences. Of course, crimes often result in fines, probation and even jail time, but in addition to these formal sentences penalties can sometimes have an effect on one’s personal life and career for the rest of their lives. This is because a criminal record tends to follow a person relentlessly, and many employers in New Jersey decline to hire anyone with a criminal record.

In New Jersey, most job applications include a box that applicants must check if they have any criminal history. Checking the box can doom applicants’ chances to get an interview even if they have paid for their mistakes long ago. A new law was proposed last week that would do away with those criminal checkboxes and expand employment rights here in New Jersey.

Some New Jersey lawmakers have said that the usage of such checkboxes on employment applications should be outlawed because it is discriminatory. In fact, Newark and Atlantic City already have bans on criminal checkboxes, as do six states and Washington, D.C.

The proposed law has been titled the Opportunity to Compete Act and it would ban employers from inquiring into the criminal histories of job applicants until a conditional employment offer has been extended.

Employers would be able to then consider criminal records for offenses that occurred within certain timeframes, depending on the offense. Criminal records that involve major violent crimes, such as murder or sex offenses, would not be time-barred.

Applicants would also have a right to appeal when a conditional job offer is withdrawn as a result of a criminal history review. Grounds for appeals would include issues of accuracy and evidence regarding rehabilitation, among other things.

The future of this legislation remains to be seen.

Source: Newark Patch, “Proposed Law Would Ban Criminal ‘Check Box’ on Job Applications,” Feb. 8, 2013

• Our law firm in Kingston helps victims of employment discrimination and other employment rights violations to seek legal recourse. To learn more about your employment rights, visit our Employment Law page.