Florida Senate - 2018                                     SB 798
       
       
        
       By Senator Braynon
       
       
       
       
       
       35-00266-18                                            2018798__
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to background screening; creating s.
    3         435.13, F.S.; prohibiting employers from excluding an
    4         applicant from an initial interview for employment
    5         under certain conditions; providing applicability;
    6         providing exceptions; requiring the Department of
    7         Economic Opportunity to enforce the act; providing an
    8         effective date.
    9  
   10  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   11  
   12         Section 1. Section 435.13, Florida Statutes, is created to
   13  read:
   14         435.13 Unlawful employment practices.—
   15         (1) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, an employer
   16  may not exclude an applicant from an initial interview for
   17  employment solely because he or she has been found guilty of,
   18  regardless of adjudication, or entered a plea of nolo contendere
   19  or guilty to, and must not have been adjudicated delinquent and
   20  the record has not been sealed or expunged for, any offense
   21  listed under s. 435.04(2).
   22         (2) An employer excludes an applicant from an initial
   23  interview if the employer:
   24         (a) Requires an applicant to disclose on an employment
   25  application whether he or she has been found guilty of,
   26  regardless of adjudication, or entered a plea of nolo contendere
   27  or guilty to, and must not have been adjudicated delinquent and
   28  the record has not been sealed or expunged for, any offense
   29  listed under s. 435.04(2);
   30         (b) Requires an applicant to disclose, before an initial
   31  interview, whether he or she has been found guilty of,
   32  regardless of adjudication, or entered a plea of nolo contendere
   33  or guilty to, and must not have been adjudicated delinquent and
   34  the record has not been sealed or expunged for, any offense
   35  listed under s. 435.04(2); or
   36         (c) Requires an applicant to disclose, before making a
   37  conditional offer of employment, whether he or she has been
   38  found guilty of, regardless of adjudication, or entered a plea
   39  of nolo contendere or guilty to, and must not have been
   40  adjudicated delinquent and the record has not been sealed or
   41  expunged for, any offense listed under s. 435.04(2), if no
   42  interview is conducted.
   43         (3) This section does not prevent an employer from
   44  considering an applicant’s conviction history when making a
   45  hiring decision.
   46         (4) Subsections (1) and (2) do not apply:
   47         (a) If federal, state, or local law, including
   48  corresponding rules and regulations, requires the consideration
   49  of an applicant’s criminal history;
   50         (b) To an employer that is a law enforcement agency;
   51         (c) To an employer in the criminal justice system; or
   52         (d) To an employer seeking an employee for a volunteer
   53  position.
   54         (5) The Department of Economic Opportunity shall enforce
   55  this section.
   56         Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2018.