By Julie Henderson
Hiring is a changing landscape and HR Professionals must be on their toes or else risk missing important information that renders their process outdated. One of the main challenges is keeping up with the passing of state and local laws. Salary history questions, using credit reports in the hiring process, and changes in marijuana laws are the subjects of recent legislation, and these have a strong effect on the hiring process.
HR must establish clear guidelines regarding changing legislation and stay abreast of the laws governing the cities, states, and municipalities where their organization maintains employees and conducts business. Here’s a rundown of the scheduled laws set to take effect in 2020.
Disclaimer: This list is for informational purposes only and not for the purpose of providing legal advice. You should contact your employment attorney to obtain advice with respect to a specific issue or problem.
Salary History Question Laws
Recently, interview questions asking about an applicant’s pay history have fallen out of favor. Those against the practice argue the information can be used to promote unequal pay for equal work. Some states have already enacted laws banning salary history questions, and there are three cities and states where such laws go into effect in early 2020.
Where? Cincinnati, Ohio
When? March of 2020
Who? Employers with 15 or more employees located within the city.
How? Employers won’t be able to ask about applicant salary history and may not rely on known salary histories.
Where? Toledo, Ohio
When? July 4, 2020
Who? Employers located within the city employing 15 or more employees, including referral and employment agencies, and the city.
How? Employers may neither ask for nor screen job applicants based on pay history. They cannot require an applicant’s pay history, benefits, or other compensation to satisfy minimum or maximum criteria.
Where? State of New York
When? January 6, 2020
Who? All employers
How? New York will ban all employers from requiring applicants to provide their salary history before they will be interviewed, employed, or promoted by the employer or as a condition to continued employment with the employer. New York employers will only be allowed to confirm volunteered information if the applicant uses his or her own salary history as a basis for demanding a higher salary during wage negotiations after an initial offer has been made to the applicant.
Marijuana Laws
Multiple states have already passed laws dealing with both medical and recreational drug use, so it was only a matter of time before they had to address screening for weed during the pre-employment screening process.
Where? Nevada
When? January 1, 2020
Who? The law affects all employers.
How? The new law makes it unlawful for Nevada employers to fail or refuse to hire a prospective employee because the applicant submitted to a screening test and the results of the test indicate the presence of marijuana. It also provides employees testing positive for marijuana with the right to, at their own expense, rebut the test results by submitting a new screening test within the first 30 days of employment.
This law does not apply to applicants who apply for certain positions.
Where? New York City
When? May 10, 2020
Who? All employers.
How? It becomes unlawful to require a prospective employee to be tested for marijuana as a condition of employment. There are some exceptions to the ban.
Other Relevant Laws
Where? New Mexico
When? January 1, 2020
Who? The law affects all employers.
How? The “Criminal Record Expungement Act” allows individuals to have certain arrest or conviction records expunged following a successful court petition.
To keep your background screening process working efficiently, HR should look at new screening tools that can help replace those that may be limited or banned. Reference checks, social media searches, and criminal history searches used later in the hiring process are still relevant, informative background checks that allow a good deal of insight into the candidate’s background and behavior.
HR Professionals must be diligent in using data to make hiring decisions. It’s vital to stay up on state and local laws that impact hiring, and to make certain everyone involved in the hiring process understands and is educated on them.
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