Candidate Screening – Can’t Ask about Criminal Record with Changes to Massachusetts Laws
According
to David Cullen of Intelligence Security International (ISI): Beginning
November 4, 2010, most employers will be prohibited from asking on an
"initial" application about an applicant's criminal offender record.
Some of this refers to "Ban the Box", which is another term that has
been floating out there for several months. This could be a significant change
to your organization, so please look into M.G.L. c. 149, 52C to ensure your
team is aware of what the changes entail.
There
will be other CORI changes which don't take effect until 2012. Below are a few
of the changes for 2012:
Felony
convictions will be sealed after 10 years vs. 15
Misdemeanor
convictions will be sealed after 5 years vs. 10
Applicant/employee's
right to CORI Report
Employee/applicant
access
Employer
protection from liability
Record
retention
Having
a written policy
We
are also dealing with the implementation of the Mass Data Security Law, 201 CMR
17. This has wide reaching impacts to small and medium size businesses. If you
are unclear about what you are required to have in place, ISI may be able to
help as we have been providing training sessions on this topic.
For
further information, contact David Cullen at Dave@intelligencesecurityint.com
