The City of Philadelphia has significantly strengthened its Fair Criminal Record Screening Standards Ordinance (Chapter 9-3500, also known as the “Fair Chance Law” or “Ban-the-Box” law) with amendments passed by the City Council on September 25, 2025, and signed by the Mayor on October 8, 2025. This legislation, Bill No. 250373-A, introduces several key changes that expand protections for job applicants and current employees with criminal records.
Employers with operations in Philadelphia must review and update their policies to ensure compliance with these new requirements. The Ordinance is set to take effect January 6, 2026.
Key Amendments to Criminal Record Consideration
The amendments place new restrictions on what criminal history private employers and City agencies in Philadelphia may consider for employment purposes.
- Shorter Look-Back Period for Misdemeanors. The look-back period for misdemeanor convictions has been reduced from seven years to four years. An employer may only consider a misdemeanor conviction if the underlying arrest or release from incarceration, whichever is later, occurred fewer than four years from the date of the inquiry, provided the conviction did not result in exoneration. The seven-year look-back period for felony convictions remains in place.
- Exclusion of Summary Offenses. Unless otherwise required by federal or state law, employers shall not consider a person’s summary offense conviction record (i.e., minor infractions, typically resolved with a citation or a fine, and do not rise to the level of a misdemeanor or felony) for employment purposes.
- Expunged or Sealed Records. An employer should not consider an applicant’s or employee’s conviction record that has been expunged or sealed cannot be used. If such a record appears on a record, the employer must allow the person to provide evidence of expungement or sealing.
- Notice Requirement. If an employer chooses to notify prospective applicants or employees (including in job advertisements) of their intent to conduct a criminal background check, the notice must explicitly state that any consideration of the background check will be an individualized assessment based on the person’s specific record and the duties and requirements of the specific job.
- Exoneration Protection. It remains an unlawful discriminatory practice to reject an applicant or employee based on a conviction that resulted in exoneration. Exoneration means the reversal or vacation of a conviction by pardon, acquittal, dismissal, or other post-conviction re-examination of the case by a court or other authorized government official.
- Notice of Provisional Decision and Rebuttal. If an employer intends to reject a person for a job opening based, in whole or in part, on criminal record information, they must provide written notice of such provisional decision and its basis, including the specific convictions considered. The employer must also provide the applicant or employee with a copy of the criminal record used.
The employer must also provide a plain language notice that includes:- A summary of the applicant’s or employee’s rights under the Fair Criminal Record Screening Standards Ordinance.
- A statement that the employer will consider evidence of any error in the criminal history records and evidence of rehabilitation and mitigation if provided by the applicant or employee, including a list of the types of evidence that may be offered.
- Instructions as to how the applicant or employee can exercise their rights to provide evidence or explanation directly to the employer.
The employer must allow the applicant or employee 10 business days to provide evidence of the inaccuracy of the information or to provide an explanation before making a final determination.
- Strengthened Anti-Retaliation Protections. The amendments include an express prohibition against an employer taking adverse action to interfere with, restrain, deny the exercise of, or retaliate against a person for exercising any rights under the law. Specifically, a rebuttable presumption of unlawful retaliation is created whenever an employer discharges, suspends, demotes, or takes other adverse action against a person within 90 days of that person exercising rights under the law.
The employer can overcome this presumption by clearly showing that the adverse action was taken for a legitimate, job-related reason and would have happened regardless of the person exercising their rights under this law.
Next Steps for Employers
To ensure a smooth transition to the updated Fair Criminal Record Screening Standards, employers operating in Philadelphia should take these immediate steps:
- Review and Update Screening Policies: Revise policies and background check procedures to comply with the new four-year look-back period for misdemeanors and the prohibition on considering summary offenses or expunged/sealed records.
- Update Notice Forms: Revise your provisional rejection notice to include the required summary of rights, the statement about accepting evidence of error or rehabilitation, and the list of specific types of rehabilitation evidence. The Philadelphia Commission on Human Relations is authorized to create forms to be used by employers.
- Adjust Waiting Period: Ensure your process allows for the mandatory 10 business days for an applicant or employee to respond with rebuttal evidence before a final adverse action decision is made.
- Train Hiring Personnel: Educate human resource staff, recruiters, and hiring managers on the new look-back periods, the updated definition of adverse action, the individualized assessment factors, and the robust anti-retaliation provisions.
HR Works will continue to monitor this topic and provide more information as updates become available.
