With over a year of debate and some last-minute amendments, the District of Columbia’s Council recently passed a ban-the-box law that includes its own unique list of considerations before an employer can withdraw an offer of employment based on criminal history.
The Council vote was 12-1; only Chairman Phil Mendelson voted against the bill.
In an interview, Mendelson said that he supports the “basic thrust” of the legislation but that late amendments were “troublesome,” giving ex-offenders greater rights in the hiring process than other citizens.
“This goes way beyond ‘ban the box’ and into telling businesses how to hire,” he said. “How much do we want to regulate how a business wants to hire somebody?” (more…)