Iowa court bans part of Waterloo's 'ban-the-box' law

The Iowa Supreme Court recently struck down part of Waterloo's "ban-the-box" ordinance, which the city enacted in 2019 (see "Waterloo bans the box—and a bit more" in our January 2020 issue), leaving intact the portion regulating "when" employers can conduct background checks.

How we got here

If COVID-19-related chaos wiped out all your memory about recent employment law changes, a short history lesson is probably in order.

Nationally, a number of cities, counties, and states decided to change their local ordinances on several employment matters because they felt state and national governments were moving too slowly. Many municipalities passed ordinances involving minimum wage, paid leave, and "ban the box," referring to the checkbox candidates are asked to mark during the early job application stages if they have a criminal record.

Trying to avoid a patchwork of laws and regulations that could negatively affect employer planning, Iowa in 2017 adopted a statute prohibiting cities from enacting any rules creating "terms or conditions of employment that exceed or conflict with the requirements of federal or state law relating to a minimum or living wage rate, any form of employment leave, hiring practices, employment benefits, scheduling practices, or other terms or conditions of employment."