Takeaways

Washington’s amended Fair Chance Act prohibits employers from requesting an individual’s criminal background information before a conditional offer of employment is made and also limits an employer’s ability to take tangible adverse employment actions against both applicants and employees because of their arrest or conviction records. 
Medium and large employers are covered by new requirements effective 07.01.26, with the next effective date for small employers, 01.01.27.
Employers should be proactive in understanding what steps they need to follow, including adding the new Washington State Attorney General’s Guide along with their required written notification to a candidate in the event of voluntary disclosure of a criminal conviction prior to a job offer and if they are subject to a background check after I dona conditional offer of employment.

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