New Jerseys The Opportunity to Compete Act, or ban-the-box, went into in 2015 and prohibits covered employees from requiring an applicant for employment to complete any employment application that makes any inquiries regarding an applicants criminal record during the initial employment application process. The Act also makes it unlawful for covered employers to make any oral or written inquiry regarding an applicants criminal record during the initial employment application process. In December 2017, Gov. Chris Christie signed Senate Bill S-3306, which clarifies that the restrictions into inquiring about criminal history on an employment application apply to expunged records and amends the Act to also apply to online applications.