{"id":1113,"date":"2015-12-24T11:30:13","date_gmt":"2015-12-24T16:30:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/events.lindabury.com\/?p=1113"},"modified":"2025-02-05T11:22:09","modified_gmt":"2025-02-05T16:22:09","slug":"nj-department-workforce-development-issues-much-needed-guidance-final-regulations-ban-box-law","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lindabury.com\/firm\/insights\/nj-department-workforce-development-issues-much-needed-guidance-final-regulations-ban-box-law.html","title":{"rendered":"The NJ Department of Workforce Development Issues Much Needed Guidance and Final Regulations on \u201cBan the Box\u201d Law"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>On March 1, 2015 most New Jersey employers with 15 or more employees became subject to the requirements of the \u201cThe Opportunity To Compete Act\u201d (the \u201cAct\u201d), more commonly known as the \u201cBan the Box\u201d law that places significant restrictions upon employer inquiries into an applicant or employee\u2019s criminal history. As explained more fully in our prior article on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.lindabury.com\/firm\/2014\/08\/employers-take-notice-new-jersey-has-banned-the-box.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">New Jersey&#8217;s Ban the Box law<\/a>, with certain exceptions the law precludes an employer from i) placing an advertisement indicating that applicants for employment with criminal record will not be considered; ii) require an applicant to complete an employment application that makes inquiry into the applicant\u2019s criminal record\u00a0 prior to the completion of an initial interview; or iii) asking any questions about the applicant\u2019s criminal record during the initial interview.<\/p>\n<p>Following the Act\u2019s passage, many employers had residual questions about how the Act was to be implemented, including questions\u00a0 about\u00a0 whether there needed to be a time interval between the first interview (where the inquiry about a criminal record is prohibited) and the second interview (where the inquiry about a criminal record is permitted); whether an \u201cinterview\u201d would include an email exchange or written questionnaire; the extent to which employers, including multi-state employers, could make references to criminal background checks in employment applications; etc.<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><strong>The Final Rules and Agency Guidance:<\/strong><\/span> On December 7, 2015 the New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development issued its Final Rules for implementing the requirements of the Act. In addition, the Department published specific \u201cResponses\u201d to comments submitted by employers\u00a0 seeking clarification of the Act\u2019s requirements and the proposed regulations.\u00a0\u00a0 The Department\u2019s clarifications include (but are not limited to) the following:<\/p>\n<div class=\"read_more_link\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.lindabury.com\/firm\/insights\/nj-department-workforce-development-issues-much-needed-guidance-final-regulations-ban-box-law.html\"  title=\"Continue Reading The NJ Department of Workforce Development Issues Much Needed Guidance and Final Regulations on \u201cBan the Box\u201d Law\" class=\"more-link\">Continue Reading \u203a<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>New Jersey employers with 15 or more employees now have significant restrictions upon inquiries made into an applicant or employee\u2019s criminal history<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[65,247],"tags":[],"coauthors":[139],"class_list":["post-1113","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-insights","category-labor-employment-insights"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>The NJ Department of Workforce Development Issues Much Needed Guidance and Final Regulations on \u201cBan the Box\u201d Law &#8212; December 24, 2015 &#8212; Lindabury, McCormick, Estabrook &amp; Cooper, P.C. 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