November 2024
Illinois has passed the Job Opportunities for Qualified Applicants Act. The Act provides that a private employer may not inquire into or require disclosure of a job applicant's criminal record or criminal history before the candidate has been notified that the candidate has been selected for a job interview or has been offered a conditional offer of employment. It requires consideration of the nature and gravity of a candidate's conviction record, the time elapsed since the conviction, and whether the conviction has a direct bearing on the candidate's fitness before excluding a candidate.
We have made several important policy updates to our model California handbook including the following: