Montgomery County passes ban-the-box legislation again

In November 2020, the Montgomery County Council unanimously enacted Bill 35-20, titled the “Human Rights and Civil Liberties-Fair Criminal Records Screening Standards Amendments,” to expand the scope of a ban-the-box law enacted in 2014. The county executive is expected to approve the new legislation.

What new county law covers

Bill 35-20 is designed to prevent workplace discrimination and promote fair screening standards by:

• Prohibiting background checks and preventing inquiries into certain types of arrests and convictions before the extension of a conditional job offer;
• Altering the definitions for fair criminal record screening standards;
• Banning inquiries into certain criminal records;
• Forbidding consideration of certain arrests and convictions in employment decisions; and
• Generally amending the previous law on criminal record screenings.

In 2014, the Montgomery council enacted its first ban-the-box law prohibiting employers with 15 or more full-time employees in the county from conducting a criminal background check of a job applicant or otherwise inquiring about the individual’s criminal or arrest history before completing a first interview.

The new legislation expands the scope of the previous law by prohibiting background checks until after the conditional job offer has been extended. It further prevents inquiries about certain crimes altogether and extends coverage to all employers with one or more employees, not 15 as in the earlier legislation.