Thirty-five states and more than 150 cities, including the District of Columbia, have created “ban the box” policies, restricting employers from asking a job applicant about his criminal history. But under the Fair Criminal Record Screening Amendment Act (FCRSA), which was passed in D.C. in 2014, employers can ask about criminal convictions – not charges or arrests – after a conditional offer of employment has been made. Ex-convicts like DeVaughn Bell, however, are still finding it difficult to secure employment after completing their sentence. Complaints vary widely from state to state and jurisdiction to jurisdiction, but many violations of ban-the-box policies are straightforward: The employer didn’t remove questions about criminal history from its job application form. In other cases, alleged violations took place during the interview or offer process.
