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November 3, 2025
The City of Philadelphia recently amended its Fair Chance Hiring Ordinance (“Ordinance”) – Philadelphia’s equivalent to “ban the box” – to shorten the lookback period for misdemeanors, prohibit consideration of summary offenses, clarify employer obligations related to notice and individualized assessments, and include stronger anti-retaliation provisions and new remedies for violations. The amendments become effective on or around December 24, 2025 (90 days after the Ordinance is adopted into law).
The Ordinance, which was first enacted in 2011, requires consideration of job candidates based on their qualifications, not their criminal records. The recent amendments mark the sixth time that the Ordinance has been updated, and each update has been in response to new research and the experiences of individuals that the Ordinance impacts.
Below is a summary of the key changes:
First, the amendments clarify that the Ordinance applies to all uses of criminal history, regardless of whether an employer finds the information itself or finds it via a third-party service or on a PennDOT Driver Record (Driver Records do not have to comply with state law regarding expunged or sealed criminal records).
Second, the amendments clarify what is required of employers who make individualized assessments of criminal records. The amendments seek to ensure that employers are rejecting applicants with criminal records only if they can show that their specific record poses a specific risk considering the duties and responsibilities of the specific job they seek. The amendments also clarify the content of the notice that employers must provide to applicants who they intend to reject. Specifically, the amendments require the notice to inform rejected applicants of their fair chance hiring rights, affirm that they will consider evidence of rehabilitation, and provide directions on how the applicant may submit evidence or explanation of their record.
Third, to align with research on recidivism risk and with state law, the Ordinance changes how employers may consider different types of convictions. The amendments shorten the lookback period for applicants with misdemeanors from seven years to four years after arrest or release from incarceration, whichever is later. This change is a response to research showing that people who remain offense-free for several years are no more likely to commit a new crime than someone with no record at all. The amendments also align the Ordinance with state law (18 Pa. C.S. § 9125) to prohibit the consideration of summary offense convictions in employment decisions.
Fourth, the amendments prohibit retaliation against individuals who exercise their rights under the Ordinance. The amendments further provide a rebuttable presumption of retaliation if an employer takes adverse action against an employee within 90 days of the employee’s exercise of their rights.
Fifth, the amendments increase enforcement mechanisms and penalties against employers that violate the Ordinance. In addition to compensatory damages, civil penalties up to $2,000 per violation, and attorney’s fees, the Philadelphia Commission on Human Relations can now order liquidated damages equal to the other monetary damages awarded.
Philadelphia Employers: Take the time now to audit your hiring practices and train your hiring personnel (including any third parties) on the Ordinance’s amendments, including, but not limited to, the obligations to conduct individualized assessments, the anti-retaliation provisions, and the requirements to ignore sealed or expunged records. Update your rejection notices to include the newly required content. And always document your hiring decisions.
*Special thanks to Lydia Deardoff, our pre-law intern, for her contributions to this article.
This article is designed to provide one perspective regarding recent legal developments, and is not intended to serve as legal advice. Always consult an attorney with specific legal issues.
