Navigating the New Massachusetts Criminal Record Law

On May 4, 2012, major changes are coming that will require all Massachusetts employers conducting criminal background checks to reassess their practices. As we reported previously here, the Massachusetts Legislature overhauled the Criminal Offender Record Information (“CORI”) statute in 2010, imposing a host of new requirements for users and providers of criminal history to be phased in over time. The Department of Criminal Justice Information Services (“DCJIS”) recently issued 84 pages of Proposed Regulations implementing the last of the new requirements and announced a public hearing on the draft regulations scheduled for March 30, 2012.  On April 11, 2012, our experts will host a webinar that will provide an overview of the requirements which go into effect on May 4, 2012, an analysis of the proposed regulations, and an update on the DCJIS’s public hearing.

We will discuss the following key points for employers:

• Obtaining CORI from DCJIS
• Notifying an Applicant Prior to A Potential Adverse Decision  
• CORI Policy Requirement
• Strict Recordkeeping and Storage Requirements
• Using a Consumer Reporting Agency (“CRA”) to Obtain Criminal Record Information
• The Relationship Between the Massachusetts CORI Law and the Fair Credit Reporting Act
• Required iCORI Training
• Audits by DCJIS
•  Penalties for Violations of the CORI Law