Massachusetts Amends CORI Law
Massachusetts recently enacted a law that has significant impact on pre-employment criminal history inquiries. Effective November 4, 2010, Massachusetts employers will no longer be permitted to ask about a job applicant's criminal history on an initial written application. The law does not, however, prevent employers from inquiring about criminal history later in the process so long as the inquiries comply with current anti-discrimination provisions. In addition, by early 2012 the state's Criminal Offender Record Information (CORI) system will be revised to limit the information retained on offenders. With some exceptions, only felony convictions less than 10 years old, misdemeanor convictions less than 5 years old, and pending criminal charges will be retained. At that time, the database will be made available, for the first time, to all employers for purposes of screening employment applicants. Employers choosing to use the database will have to comply with recordkeeping requirements and restrictions on dissemination of the information, and will have to put in place certain written policies. The law does not affect employers' rights to gather criminal history information through other means, in compliance with the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act. Employers are advised to review and revise their written employment applications as soon as practicable, and to consult future regulations which may further define their obligations in this area.
