The majority of states allow employers to refuse to hire anyone with a conviction record – or even an arrest that never led to conviction – because they have absolutely no guidelines or regulations on how an employer must evaluate a criminal history when considering an applicant. Only fourteen states have legal standards governing public employers’ consideration of an applicant’s criminal record that require an individualized assessment of the applicant’s qualifications and ability to do the job. These states are: Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Hawaii, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Minnesota, New Mexico, New York, Pennsylvania, Washington, and Wisconsin. To see an overview of the laws of all fourteen states,
click here. Only five of those states – Hawaii, Kansas, New York, and Wisconsin – regulate private employers. Even when it comes to granting licenses for a wide range of occupations, only 21 states have standards that require a “direct,” “rational,” or “reasonable” relationship between the license sought and the applicant’s criminal history to justify the agency’s denial of license, while the other 29 states do not.