Minneapolis and Washington State Impose ‘Fair Chance’ Requirements on Employers That Consider Criminal History

Minneapolis and Washington state have amended their antidiscrimination laws to provide new employment protections for individuals with criminal histories and to impose new procedural requirements on employers who consider criminal history when making employment-related decisions. These amendments augment the growing list of state and local “fair chance” laws, which generally require an employer to evaluate the relationship between an individual’s criminal history and the duties and responsibilities of the role when assessing an individual’s eligibility for employment.

AMENDMENTS TO THE MINNEAPOLIS CIVIL RIGHTS ORDINANCE

Effective August 1, 2025, the City of Minneapolis’s Civil Rights Ordinance (the Ordinance) will add “justice-impacted status” to its list of protected characteristics. The Ordinance defines “justice-impacted status” as the “state of having a criminal record or history, including any arrest, charge, conviction, period of incarceration, or past or current probationary status.”

As of August 1, 2025, employers who hire or employ anyone whose services are to be “partially or wholly performed in the City of Minneapolis” will be prohibited from basing an employment decision on an applicant’s or employee’s justice-impacted status unless the employer can show that the decision is “reasonably based” on the relationship between the underlying criminal conduct and “the ability, capacity, and fitness required to perform the duties and discharge the responsibilities of the position of employment or occupation.” The Ordinance instructs employers to consider six factors when performing this assessment:

1. Whether the individual was convicted;
2. The length of time since the alleged offense/conviction;
3. The nature and severity of the crime(s);
4. The age of the individual at the time the crime(s) was committed;
5. Any evidence of rehabilitation; and
6. Any unreasonable risk to property or to the safety or welfare of either specific individuals or the public.

The Ordinance also specifies that an employer may not base an adverse employment decision on the fact of an arrest that did not result in a conviction. An employer may, however, base an adverse decision on a pending criminal matter so long as the employer first performs the six-factor individualized assessment described above.

The Ordinance permits an aggrieved individual to file a complaint with the Minneapolis Commission on Civil Rights, which has the authority to order broad relief, including hiring, reinstatement, and backpay.

Importantly, the Ordinance applies exclusively to applicants and employees in the City of Minneapolis. There are no corresponding requirements at the state level, as Minnesota’s statewide criminal history law does not include a fair chance provision (it is a ban-the-box law).

AMENDMENTS TO THE WASHINGTON STATE FAIR CHANCE ACT

On April 10, 2025, Washington state amended its statewide ban-the-box law to impose new fair chance requirements, which take effect on July 1, 2026. In its current state, Washington’s ban-the-box law prohibits an employer from including “any question on any application, inquire, receiv[ing] information through a criminal history background check, or otherwise obtain[ing] information about an applicant’s criminal record until after the employer initially determines that the applicant is otherwise qualified for the position.” Wash. Rev. Code Ann. § 49.94.010(1). But it does not impose any limitations with respect to how criminal history is reviewed and analyzed, once lawfully collected.

The amended law, by contrast, prohibits employers from inquiring or obtaining information about an applicant’s criminal record unless the employer has extended a conditional offer of employment to the applicant. The amended law also prohibits an employer from basing an adverse employment decision on an applicant’s or employee’s arrest record or pending charge and requires employers to perform a written individualized assessment of how an applicant or employee’s criminal conviction relates to the role, by considering the following six factors:

1. The seriousness of the conduct underlying the adult conviction record;
2. The number and types of convictions;
3. The time that has elapsed since the conviction, excluding periods of incarceration;
4. Any verifiable information related to the individual’s rehabilitation, good conduct, work experience, education, and training, as provided by the individual;
5. The specific duties and responsibilities of the position sought or held; and
6. The place and manner in which the position will be performed.

If, after completing the written individualized assessment, the employer is considering basing an adverse action on an applicant or employee’s conviction history, the employer must notify the applicant or employee of the conviction(s) that form(s) the basis for the preliminary adverse decision and wait at least two business days before finalizing the decision.

The amendments also impose a unique notice requirement for employers, which applies before a background check is run. Per the amendments, if an employer advises an applicant before extending an offer that the position will be subject to a post-offer criminal history background check, the employer must immediately make a written disclosure to the applicant that summarizes certain aspects of Washington state’s law and includes a copy of the Attorney General’s Fair Chance Act guide. An employer must also provide the same disclosures if an applicant voluntarily discloses information about their criminal history during a job interview.

The amendments increase the statutory penalties under the current ban-the-box law from a notice of violation and offer of agency assistance for the first violation, a monetary penalty of up to $750 for the second violation, and a monetary penalty of up to $1,000 for each subsequent violation to $1,500 for the first violation, $3,000 for the second violation, and $15,000 for each subsequent violation. There is no private right of action under the Fair Chance Act, but the penalties are imposed per aggrieved job applicant or employee for each violation.

TAKEAWAYS FOR EMPLOYERS

• Employers who hire in Minneapolis and Washington state should review their hiring and background check procedures to ensure that they comply with the new requirements, which take effect in August 2025 and July 2026, respectively.
• The amendments to both laws apply to applicants and current employees, such that covered employers may have to update not only their pre-hire background check processes but also any post-hire screening procedures.
• Employers in Minneapolis and Washington state must also continue to ensure that they do not inquire about an applicant’s criminal history until they are legally allowed to do so.