Good news for those struggling to find work: The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) have announced the Hiring Initiative to Reimagine Equity (HIRE), a multi-year effort to expand employment access to workers from predominantly underrepresented communities.

Indiana is currently working on a bill, HB 1214, which would significantly help those denied housing due to past eviction records. HB 1214 would allow people to request expunctions for eviction filings in situations where the case was dismissed, the judgement ended up in their favor, or the landlord took no action within 180 days of the filing.

To promote job and career transparency, New York City employers will soon be required to include minimum and maximum salaries on all job postings for positions performed within the city. The law was passed on January 15, 2022, and will go into effect on May 15th. As this law goes into effect, employers must include a “good faith” salary range for all job opportunities within the city.

The Utah Clean Slate Law now offers a fresh start for thousands of people with criminal records. The law, which took effect on February 10th, 2022, automatically expunges the eligible records. Often those with criminal records find themselves caught in a vicious cycle of unemployment.

Those with criminal records have notoriously found the expunction process incredibly tedious and expensive. Recently, Montana Courts reported that only a small percentage of those with marijuana-related convictions are applying for an expunction.

After months of debate between legislators, Rhode Island governor Dan Mckee announced a budget plan to legalize adult-use cannabis and provide an automatic expunction process for cannabis-related charges in the state.

The “ban the box” movement is a second chance for hundreds of applicants for employment, allowing those with criminal histories the opportunity to live up to their potential. Harris County, Texas, is the latest to apply this to government jobs. “Ban the box” is aligned with the Fair Chance policy, which was passed in a 3-2 vote by the Harris County Commissioners Court.

Colorado has long been at the forefront of marijuana decriminalization within the United States. And now, they’ve taken yet another step towards the future as Governor Jared Polis announced that he granted an additional 1,351 pardons for convictions of possession.

The state of Philadelphia rang in the year with a new, much-needed policy: city employers are no longer allowed to force prospective employees to submit a drug test for marijuana. Not only will this improve the talent pool, but it will give deserving citizens a fair chance at pursuing their life of choice.

A new study from researchers at the University of California, San Diego has given us some interesting insight on the effects of marijuana decriminalizaition. The study, which examined data from 37 stated between 2000 and 2019, found that decriminalization decreases arrest overall… AND is reduces racial disparities with remaining arrests.