Several House Republicans active in civil service issues have asked the GAO to examine whether a federal hiring policy issued late in the Obama administration is having unintended consequences.
Rules issued in late 2016 generally bar agencies from asking about an applicant’s criminal record (or adverse credit record) as an initial screening question, while allowing such queries after a conditional offer of employment has been made. There are exceptions for positions such as law enforcement and those requiring training before even a conditional offer can be made.
While the goal of such a so-called “ban the box” policies is to improve the employment prospects of those with criminal records, “concerns have been raised absent direct information about an applicant’s past, employers may make assumptions about criminality based on race alone,” says a letter to GAO from House Oversight and Government Reform Committee chairman Trey Gowdy, R-S.C., and former chairman Darrell Issa, R-Calif.
The asked GAO to examine the impact of the 2016 rules to “determine whether there have been any observable changes in the hiring of individuals with criminal histories . . . the extent to which select agencies are complying with the OPM guidance and how many agencies have requested and received exemptions.”
They said that such an understanding would be “essential” before Congress considers putting the policy into law, as has been proposed in pending legislation.