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Comment by Nasrudith | Hacker News Reader

Huh strange that it went straight to banning checking without an innocent until proven guilty standard. I know I have seen plenty of websites for career related where asking if you were convicted had yes, no, or resident of certain states as an effective N/A along with either telling you to select N/A regardless of personal status or flat out forbidding answering if from such a state.

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"Ban the box" usually isn't an outright ban on all criminal background checks. The thing it's fighting against is a checkbox/question on the initial job application, to prevent use of it as a universal "not even going to talk to you" filter.

Typically, an employer can run a criminal background check in a "ban the box" jurisdiction, but only later in the process (for example: after completing interviews and provisionally deciding this is someone you'd like to hire). There may also be other rules in place about how you can use information from the background check, and what you have to do if you decide to revoke the offer of employment based on the result of the check.

Key distinction about "ban the box", it doesn't make it illegal to ask employees about a criminal record, or refuse to hire them if they have one.

You just can't ask on the application form. You can ask later on in the process though. The idea is to give people with criminal records at least a fighting chance of getting interviews.

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