Written By ESR News Blog Editor Thomas Ahearn
On December 20, 2019, former United States President Donald J. Trump signed into law the “National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2020” (S. 1790) that included a “Ban the Box” bill called the ‘‘Fair Chance to Compete for Jobs Act of 2019’’ or ‘‘Fair Chance Act (FCA)’’ that would take effect two years after the date of enactment – December 20, 2021 – to give ex-offenders a chance to find work in the U.S. Federal government.
On December 11, 2019, the FCA passed in the U.S. House of Representatives before heading to the Senate. On December 17, 2019, the FCA passed in the U.S. Senate before heading to the President’s desk. The FCA will “Ban the Box” and prohibit most Federal agencies and contractors from asking about arrest and conviction history on job applications and delay background checks until a conditional job offer has been extended to applicants.
The FCA does not apply to an applicant for a position in the civil service if consideration of criminal history record information prior to a conditional offer with respect to the position is otherwise required by law. The FCA also provides exceptions for certain positions such as Federal law enforcement or national security positions. The complete text of the FCA is contained in Title XI, Sections 1121-1124 of the NDAA for Fiscal Year 2020.
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