as introduced - 87th Legislature (2011 - 2012) Posted on 04/14/2011 10:46am
A bill for an act
relating to employment; modifying reliance on credit or criminal history for
employment requirements; amending Minnesota Statutes 2010, sections 181.981,
subdivision 1; 364.021.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:
Minnesota Statutes 2010, section 181.981, subdivision 1, is amended to read:
Information
regarding a criminal history record of an employee or former employee may not be
introduced as evidence in a civil action against a private employer or its employees or
agents that is based on the conduct of the employee or former employee, if:
(1) the duties of the position of employment did not expose others to a greater degree
of risk than that created by the employee or former employee interacting with the public
outside of the duties of the position or that might be created by being employed in general;
(2) before the occurrence of the act giving rise to the civil action, a court order sealed
any record of the criminal case or the employee or former employee received a pardon; deleted text begin or
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(3) the record is of an arrest or charge that did not result in a criminal convictiondeleted text begin .deleted text end new text begin ; or
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(4) the action is based solely upon the employer's compliance with section 364.021.
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Minnesota Statutes 2010, section 364.021, is amended to read:
(a) A public new text begin or private new text end employer may not inquire into or consider the new text begin credit history
or score, new text end criminal recordnew text begin ,new text end or criminal history of an applicant for deleted text begin publicdeleted text end employment until
the applicant has been selected for an interview by the employer.
(b) This section does not apply to the Department of Corrections or to deleted text begin publicdeleted text end
employers who have a statutory duty to conduct a criminal history background check
or otherwise take into consideration a potential employee's criminal history during the
hiring process.
(c) This section does not prohibit deleted text begin a publicdeleted text end new text begin an new text end employer from notifying applicants
that law or the employer's policy will disqualify an individual with a particular criminal
history background from employment in particular positions.