Bill Text: MI HB4326 | 2019-2020 | 100th Legislature | Introduced

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Bill Title: Labor: fair employment practices; employer inquiries regarding criminal history; prohibit before offer of employment is made. Creates new act.

Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Democrat 16)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2019-03-12 - Bill Electronically Reproduced 03/12/2019 [HB4326 Detail]

Download: Michigan-2019-HB4326-Introduced.html

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HOUSE BILL No. 4326

 

 

March 12, 2019, Introduced by Reps. Cynthia Johnson, Whitsett, Brenda Carter, Peterson, Yancey, Byrd, Hope, Neeley, Haadsma, Tyrone Carter, Rabhi, Shannon, Cambensy, LaGrand, Love and Robinson and referred to the Committee on Commerce and Tourism.

 

     A bill to prohibit certain inquiries and requests for

 

disclosures during the hiring process; to provide for the powers

 

and duties of certain state officers and entities; to provide for

 

the promulgation of rules; to make appropriations for the

 

implementation of this act; and to prescribe civil sanctions.

 

THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT:

 

     Sec. 1. This act shall be known and may be cited as the "job

 

applicant criminal history act".

 

     Sec. 3. As used in this act:

 

     (a) "Applicant" means an individual considered or who requests

 

to be considered for employment by an employer.

 

     (b) "Arrest" means being apprehended, detained, taken into

 

custody, held for investigation, or restrained by a law enforcement

 

agency or law enforcement officer based on a criminal accusation or

 

suspicion that the individual committed a crime.

 

     (c) "Conditional offer of employment" means an offer of

 

employment that is conditional only on 1 or more of the following:

 

     (i) The result of the employer's subsequent inquiry into the

 

applicant's criminal record.

 

     (ii) Any other employment-related contingency expressly

 

communicated to the applicant at the time of the offer.

 

     (d) "Criminal accusation" means an accusation made by a law

 

enforcement agency, prosecuting attorney, or attorney general

 

through an indictment, information, complaint, or other formal

 

charge that an individual has committed a crime.

 

     (e) "Criminal conviction" means a judgment entered by a court

 

upon a plea of guilty, guilty but mentally ill, or nolo contendere,

 

or upon a jury verdict or court finding that a defendant is guilty

 

or guilty but mentally ill.

 

     (f) "Department" means the department of civil rights.

 

     (g) "Employer" means a person, this state, or a political

 

subdivision of this state that employs 1 or more employees in this

 

state. Employer includes, but is not limited to, the following:

 

     (i) An agent of an employer.

 

     (ii) A person regularly undertaking with compensation to

 

procure employees for an employer or to procure for individuals

 

opportunities to work for an employer.

 

     (iii) A person that enters into a contract with this state or

 

a political subdivision of this state to provide goods or services.

 

     (h) "Employment" means any of the following:

     (i) An occupation, vocation, job, or work for pay, including,

 

but not limited to, temporary or seasonal work, contracted work,

 

contingent work, and work through the services of a temporary or

 

other employment agency.

 

     (ii) Vocational or educational training with or without pay.

 

     (i) "Inquiry" or "inquire" means conduct intended to gather

 

information from or about an applicant using any method, including

 

application forms, interviews, and criminal history checks.

 

     (j) "Interview" means direct contact by an employer with an

 

applicant, whether in person or by telephone, to discuss the

 

employment being sought or the applicant's qualifications.

 

     Sec. 5. (1) An employer shall not inquire about or require an

 

applicant to disclose any of the following:

 

     (a) An arrest of the applicant.

 

     (b) A criminal accusation made against the applicant, if the

 

criminal accusation is not then pending or did not result in a

 

criminal conviction.

 

     (c) Before making a conditional offer of employment, a

 

criminal conviction of the applicant.

 

     (2) Subsection (1) does not apply to any of the following:

 

     (a) Inquiries that are necessary to enable the employer to

 

comply with state or federal law.

 

     (b) Employment designated by the employer as part of a state

 

or federal program or obligation that is designed to encourage the

 

employment of individuals with criminal histories.

 

     (c) An employer that provides programs, services, or direct

 

care to minors or vulnerable adults.

     (3) After an employer has made a conditional offer of

 

employment to an applicant, the employer may revoke the conditional

 

offer of employment or take an adverse action against the applicant

 

based on the results of an inquiry into the applicant's criminal

 

record. The employer's revocation of the conditional offer must be

 

reasonable based on all the following factors:

 

     (a) The specific duties and responsibilities related to the

 

employment sought or held by the applicant.

 

     (b) The effect that the criminal offense for which the

 

applicant was criminally convicted has on the applicant's fitness

 

for the employment sought or ability to perform the specific duties

 

or responsibilities described in subdivision (a).

 

     (c) The amount of time that has elapsed since the occurrence

 

of the criminal offense.

 

     (d) The age of the applicant at the time of the occurrence of

 

the criminal offense.

 

     (e) The frequency and seriousness of the criminal offense.

 

     (f) Any information produced by the applicant, or produced on

 

the applicant's behalf, regarding the applicant's rehabilitation

 

and good conduct since the occurrence of the criminal offense.

 

     (4) Within 15 days after revoking a conditional offer of

 

employment under subsection (3), an employer shall provide the

 

applicant with a copy of any records obtained by the employer in

 

consideration of the applicant for employment, including, but not

 

limited to, criminal records.

 

     Sec. 7. (1) An individual aggrieved by a violation of this act

 

may do either of the following:

     (a) File a complaint with the department.

 

     (b) Bring a civil action for appropriate injunctive relief or

 

damages, or both, in the circuit court for the county where the

 

alleged violation occurred or where the person against whom the

 

civil complaint is filed resides or has his or her principal place

 

of business. In addition to any other remedies provided for under

 

this section, the court may award damages for injury or loss caused

 

by each violation of this act and all or a portion of the costs of

 

litigation, including reasonable attorney fees and witness fees, to

 

the complainant in the action. Filing a complaint with the

 

department under subdivision (a) is not a prerequisite or a bar to

 

bringing an action under this subdivision.

 

     (2) The department shall investigate a complaint submitted

 

under subsection (1)(a), determine whether a violation of this act

 

occurred, and notify the complainant and alleged violator of the

 

determination. If the department determines that an employer has

 

repeatedly violated this act, the department shall issue an order

 

to cease and desist to the employer.

 

     (3) An employer that violates this act may be ordered to pay a

 

civil fine as follows:

 

     (a) For employers that employ 10 or fewer employees, a civil

 

fine of not more than $500.00.

 

     (b) For employers that employ 11 or more but 99 or fewer

 

employees, a civil fine of not more than $1,000.00.

 

     (c) For employers that employ 100 or more employees, a civil

 

fine of not more than $1,500.00.

 

     (4) Fifty percent of a civil fine recovered under this act

must be remitted to the complainant who filed the complaint that

 

resulted in the recovery of the civil fine.

 

     Sec. 11. (1) The department shall maintain all of the

 

following data regarding this act:

 

     (a) The number of complaints filed.

 

     (b) Demographic information about the complainants.

 

     (c) The number of investigations conducted by the department.

 

     (d) The disposition of every complaint and investigation.

 

     (2) By March 31 of each year, beginning in 2020, the

 

department shall provide a written report regarding the information

 

described in subsection (1) to the chairpersons of the standing

 

committees and the appropriations subcommittees of the house of

 

representatives and senate having jurisdiction over legislation

 

pertaining to employment discrimination. The report must comply

 

with all of the following:

 

     (a) Be in a form that does not identify a complainant or

 

employer.

 

     (b) Include, based on the information in subsection (1) and

 

any other information obtained by the department, a description of

 

the effect that this act has had on the hiring of applicants with

 

criminal histories by employers and on employers.

 

     Sec. 13. The department may promulgate rules to implement this

 

act pursuant to the administrative procedures act of 1969, 1969 PA

 

306, MCL 24.201 to 24.328.

 

     Sec. 14. For fiscal year 2019-2020, $100,000.00 is

 

appropriated to the department to implement this act.