JustLeadershipUSA Opposes EEOC Vote to Drop Guidance on Arrest and Conviction Records in Hiring

NEW YORK, NY — The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) voted Thursday to revoke its 2012 guidance on how employers use arrest and conviction records in hiring. For more than a decade, that guidance warned employers that blanket bans on applicants with arrest and conviction histories could violate federal civil rights law. JustLeadershipUSA (JLUSA), the nation’s preeminent organization founded and led by formerly incarcerated people, released the following statement in response.

“The EEOC’s vote to revoke its 2012 guidance is a regressive blow to millions of directly impacted Americans seeking fair employment opportunities. For over a decade, this framework helped prevent arbitrary exclusion by encouraging individualized hiring evaluations. Abandoning disparate impact enforcement turns a blind eye to systemic racial disparities in hiring and undermines the dignity of 70 million directly impacted people who simply want to support their families and communities.”

This decision directly conflicts with ongoing workforce efforts and state-level momentum evidenced in stricter state and local laws that continue to mandate individualized hiring assessments. The EEOC’s shift ignores both data-driven workforce strategies and the broader consensus across state jurisdictions: 

1. EEOC findings historically show that blanket criminal exclusions disproportionately bar Black and Hispanic job seekers from equal economic opportunity. 
2. Expanding employment access for individuals with conviction histories strengthens local economies and could add over $70 billion annually to the U.S. GDP.

JLUSA reminds directly impacted workers, employers, and advocates that executive regulatory changes do not erase federal civil rights laws or end fair chance policies already on the books. Revoking agency guidance does not eliminate Title VII of the Civil Rights Act or set aside binding judicial precedent. Directly impacted individuals retain the legal right to file lawsuits challenging discriminatory hiring practices under both disparate treatment and disparate impact theories. Federal FCRA procedural requirements and robust state background check laws remain fully enforceable by courts and state regulators.”

JustLeadershipUSA will continue to educate directly impacted individuals on their rights and organize to hold employers accountable. Administrative rollbacks cannot erase federal civil rights law or extinguish our fight for full economic inclusion.

Learn more about how we are elevating issues impacting the 70+ million Americans with lived experience at the Federal level through the JustUS Coordinating Council (JCC) at justuscc.org.