‘Ban The Box’ Bill Makes A Comeback In Colorado After Being Struck Down Twice- 05 Feb

This past month two Democratic state representatives presented a bill that could change what job applications look like in Colorado. The bill would include some policy changes following the ‘ban-the-box’ campaign prohibiting employers from discriminating against applicants with a criminal history.

Colorado is no stranger to the ‘ban-the-box’ notion as similar bills were brought up in 2016 and 2017, but both times they weren’t passed through. The current version of the bill is posted online here. We’ve outlined some changes that are proposed in this current version of the bill below.

Employers would be prohibited from:

-Inquiring about an applicant’s criminal history on an initial application
-Placing a statement in an employment application that a person with a criminal history may not apply for a position or advertising anything similar

Employers would still be allowed to obtain a job applicant’s criminal history outside of the above stipulations. Certain exemptions are included however for employers regarding the advertising and initial employment restrictions if:

-The law prohibits a person who has a particular criminal history from being employed in a particular job
-The employer is participating in a program to encourage employment of people with criminal histories
-The employer is required by law to conduct a criminal history record check for a particular position

To stay updated on the status of this bill you can go to https://leg.colorado.gov/bills/hb19-1025. As of 2/5/2019 the bill has been introduced and is currently under consideration.