Pamela Devata Quoted in Chicago Daily Law Bulletin
“EEOC tells employers to handle criminal records with caution”

Employment partner Pamela Devata was quoted in an April 27 Chicago Daily Law Bulletin article concerning employers’ use of criminal background checks when making hiring decisions. The article reported on new guidelines issued by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission with respect to Title VII. The guidelines instruct employers to consider, before ruling out a job candidate with an arrest record, the following three things: the nature of the offense, the time since the offense occurred, and the nature of the job the candidate holds or seeks.

Pam urged employers who perform criminal record checks on job candidates to pay more attention to what they look for and how they use the information they find. "Employers shouldn't even be asking about certain criminal history or getting certain criminal history about (an) individual that's not job-related," she advised.