Although Hawaii prohibits employment discrimination based on arrest and court record, the problem that comes up for HR is deciding what to do if the arrest falls in a gray area such as off-duty drugs, drunk driving, or disorderly conduct, especially as individuals party during the holidays. This week’s Feature from CCH HR Compliance Library presents an article from Pepper Hamilton, a multi-practice law firm, on seven tips for employers who may be confronted with the arrest of one of their own workers.
Arrest and Court Record Discrimination
Feature of the Week
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission is in the process of reviewing employer hiring practices, particularly in the area of the use of arrest and conviction records. (Hawaii already prohibits employment discrimination based on arrest and court record, except under certain limited circumstances.) This week’s Feature from CCH News reports on a July 26 EEOC meeting held to lay out the scope of the problem of using arrest and conviction records in hiring, to identify and highlight employers' best practices, ways in which arrest and conviction records have been used appropriately, and current legal standards.
Whether conviction bears “rational relationship” to job is question for trial, Hawaii State Supreme Court rules.
Hawaii’s prohibition of employment discrimination based on arrest and court record allows employers to consider convictions within the last 10 years that have a rational relationship to the duties and responsibilities of the position. Home Depot in Kahului terminated an employee when it found that he had been convicted six years prior for drug possession.
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Read more Massachusetts Second After Hawaii to Limit Criminal History Queries
Effective November 4, 2010, Massachusetts will become the second state after Hawaii to ban employers from requesting criminal record information on initial job applications.
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( Categories : Arrest and Court Record Discrimination )
EEOC Issues Informal Advisory on Criminal Records and Use in Job Screening
An informal advisory letter from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission provides some guidance on what the agency considers in determining whether or not an employer’s use of criminal records in hiring decisions amounts to illegal discrimination.
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( Categories : Arrest and Court Record Discrimination )
Arrest Record Should Be Treated Differently Than Convictions, EEOC Letter Says
Arrest records should be treated differently from conviction records since they “are unreliable indicators of guilt,” a recently released informal discussion letter from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission states.
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