LA City Council approves ban on disclosing criminal records during early hiring process

LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- The Los Angeles City Council approved an ordinance that bans employers from asking about job applicants' criminal records during the early stages of the hiring process.

The measure, which has been called "ban the box," makes employers remove the checkboxes or questions that inquire about a person's criminal record.

The policy will apply to private businesses with 10 or more employees and contractors doing business with the city. They will not be able to ask about criminal records until a conditional offer is made. Once that has been made, employers can then inquire about a person's criminal record.

The policy states that if an employer decides not to hire a person because of their criminal record, they must provide a reason for the decision.

Council members said statistics from the National Institute of Justice show that the likelihood of a person getting a job offer goes down by 50 percent if they have a criminal record.

City News Service contributed to this report.