Title 09 Employment Standards
Chapter 09.02 Fair Chance Hiring
Section 09.02.040 Applicability
- This chapter does not apply:
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- to any employer hiring an employee who will have unsupervised access to children under the age of eighteen, a vulnerable adult as defined in RCW 74.34.020(21), or a vulnerable person as defined in RCW 9.96A.060;
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- to employers who are expressly permitted or required under any federal or Washington state law to inquire into, consider, or rely on information about an applicant’s arrest or conviction record for employment purposes;
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- to any General Authority Washington law enforcement agency as defined in RCW 10.93.020(1); or
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- where criminal background checks are specifically permitted or required under state or federal law.
- Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to protect criminal conduct.
- Nothing in this chapter shall be interpreted or applied as imposing an obligation on the part of an employer to provide accommodations or job modifications in order to facilitate the employment or continued employment of an applicant with an arrest or conviction record or who is facing pending criminal charges.
- Nothing in this chapter prohibits an employer from declining to hire an applicant with a criminal record or from terminating the employment of an employee with a criminal record.
- Nothing in this chapter shall be interpreted or applied as imposing an obligation on the part of an employer to provide accommodations or job modifications in order to facilitate the employment or continued employment of an individual experiencing homelessness.
- Nothing in this chapter prohibits an employer from declining to hire an applicant experiencing homelessness or from terminating the employment of an employee experiencing homelessness, if the termination or refusal to hire an applicant is not solely based on housing status.
Date Passed: Monday, April 21, 2025
Effective Date: Sunday, May 25, 2025
ORD C36666 Section 4
