Ban the Box in 2026: What Your Job Ads and Offers Must Say Now

The basics that have not changed

Philadelphia has had a ban the box law for years. Its formal name is the Fair Criminal Record Screening Standards ordinance. The core rule is simple: you cannot ask about criminal history, on an application or in an interview, until after you make a conditional offer of employment.

The law reaches more than the people on your payroll. Section 9-3502 of the Philadelphia Code defines “Employee” to include independent contractors, rideshare drivers, and other gig workers who work at or for your business in the city.

A conditional offer is a real job offer that depends on the results of a background check or another stated condition. Only after that offer can you ask about a record or run a criminal background check. If the check turns up something, you cannot simply reject the person because of it.

Instead, the ordinance requires an individualized assessment. That means you look at the specific conviction, how it relates to the specific job, how much time has passed, and any evidence the person offers about rehabilitation or changed circumstances. A blanket “no felonies” policy does not pass this test.

None of that changed in 2026. What changed is how much you must say up front, how far back you may look, and what you owe the applicant before you say no.

What the January 6, 2026 amendments added

City Council passed the amendments unanimously on September 25, 2025. They took effect on January 6, 2026. The law firm Morgan Lewis summarized the changes in an October 2025 client alert. The summary below follows that alert and the enacted bill, Bill No. 250373-A.

The amendments made six changes that matter for a small or midsize employer:

• If a job ad, conditional offer, or other hiring notice says you will run a criminal background check, it must now state that any consideration of the check will be an individualized assessment.
• The lookback period for misdemeanor convictions dropped from seven years to four. Felonies stay at seven.
• Summary offenses can no longer be considered at all.
• Expunged and sealed records cannot be considered at all.
• Before you withdraw an offer based on a record, you must send a pre-adverse-action notice that includes a list of the kinds of mitigation evidence you will accept.
• The ordinance now has its own 90-day retaliation presumption.

If you hired in Philadelphia before 2026 and have not touched your templates since, at least three of those items probably affect documents you use every week: your job postings, your offer letter, and your background check letters.

The amendments also changed what the Commission on Human Relations can order when it finds a violation. It can now order civil penalties of up to $2,000 per violation, paid to the City. It can also order liquidated damages, an extra amount equal to the other money it finds you owe the applicant or employee. See Section 9-3506(5) of the Philadelphia Code.

The exact language your job ads need

Here is the change most employers miss. It is no longer enough to leave criminal history off the application. If your job ad, your conditional offer, or any other notice in the hiring process says you will run a criminal background check, that notice must also tell applicants that any criminal record will be reviewed through an individualized assessment.

Think of it as a disclosure. The applicant should be able to read your posting and understand that a record is not an automatic bar, and that you will look at their situation on its own facts.

The ordinance does not give you a fixed script. Section 9-3504(1)(b) of the Philadelphia Code says the notice must be concise, accurate, and made in good faith. It must also state that “any consideration of the background check will be an individualized assessment based on the Applicant’s or Employee’s specific record and the duties and requirements of the specific job.” The safest move is to use that clause as written. A paraphrase that leaves out a required element could be treated as noncompliance even if your intent was fine.

Where should it go? In practice, employers put the statement in the equal opportunity section at the bottom of a posting and in a short paragraph of the offer letter near the background check condition. Whatever you choose, use it everywhere. A posting that goes out through a staffing agency or a job board still counts as your job ad.

The pre-adverse-action notice: what it must include

Suppose you made a conditional offer, ran the check, and found a conviction within the allowed lookback that concerns you. Before you withdraw the offer, the amended ordinance requires you to send the applicant a pre-adverse-action notice.

The word “pre” matters. This notice goes out before the final decision, not with it. Its purpose is to give the person a chance to respond, correct errors, and offer context.

Section 9-3504.1 of the Philadelphia Code lists what you must give the applicant in writing before you decide:

• A notice of the decision you plan to make and why, naming the specific convictions it rests on.
• A copy of the criminal record you used.
• A plain-language summary of the applicant’s rights under the ordinance.
• A statement that you will consider evidence of errors in the record and evidence of rehabilitation and mitigation, with a list of the kinds of evidence the applicant can send.
• Instructions for how to send that evidence or an explanation directly to you.

Then wait. The applicant gets 10 business days to show the record is wrong or to explain it before you make a final decision.

Mitigation evidence is information that weighs in the applicant’s favor: proof of rehabilitation, time passed without further incident, training completed, references, or an explanation of the circumstances. Listing what you accept tells the applicant what to send and makes your review process concrete.

Then you do the individualized assessment with that evidence in hand. Only after that can you make the final call. Keep a copy of the notice, what the applicant sent back, and a short written note of how you weighed it. If a complaint follows, that file is your defense.

Lookback periods, side by side

The lookback period is how far back in time you may consider a conviction. Anything older than the lookback is off the table, no matter what it was.

When does the clock start? Section 9-3504(4) of the Philadelphia Code counts the 4 or 7 years from the arrest behind the conviction or the person’s release from incarceration for it, whichever is later. PCHR’s July 2026 poster describes it differently: it says the conviction or release from custody, whichever is later. Go by the ordinance text.

A summary offense is the lowest level of criminal charge in Pennsylvania, below a misdemeanor. Common examples include disorderly conduct and minor retail theft. Expunged records have been erased by court order. Sealed records still exist but are hidden from most public and employer view. The amendments take all three off the table.

If your background check vendor still reports summary offenses or misdemeanors older than four years for Philadelphia positions, ask the vendor to adjust the report scope for those jobs. Seeing a record you are not allowed to consider creates risk with no benefit.

How this interacts with Pennsylvania and federal background check rules

Philadelphia’s ordinance sits on top of two other layers, and you have to satisfy all three.

Pennsylvania has its own state law on how employers may use criminal history, and it is less detailed than Philadelphia’s. Following the city’s rules will usually satisfy the state’s too. Check with counsel if a position falls under a licensing law or a federal rule with its own criminal history requirements, because those can override both.

The Fair Credit Reporting Act, or FCRA, is the federal law that governs background checks done by an outside company. It requires you to get the applicant’s written permission before ordering the report, to give the applicant a copy of the report and a summary of their rights before you take adverse action, and to send a final adverse action notice afterward. FCRA does not tell you which records you may use. It tells you how to handle the process fairly. Philadelphia’s pre-adverse-action notice can be sent together with the FCRA pre-adverse-action package, as long as each document includes what its own law requires. FCRA also requires the background check disclosure to be a standalone document, so put the individualized assessment statement in your job ad or offer letter, not inside the FCRA disclosure form.

The 90-day retaliation presumption deserves its own paragraph. The amended ordinance has its own presumption, in Section 9-3511 of the Philadelphia Code. If you take an adverse action against a person within 90 days of that person exercising a right under the ordinance, such as sending you information for the individualized assessment, the law presumes the action was retaliation. You carry the burden of proving otherwise: you must show you had just cause and would have acted anyway. It is not retaliation if you act in good faith and, after weighing what the applicant sent, go ahead with the rejection. The Commission on Human Relations enforces this ordinance. The POWER Act has a separate 90-day presumption that covers other worker laws, such as paid sick leave and wage theft, and the Office of Worker Protections enforces it. Read more in our piece on the Philadelphia POWER Act.

Finally, remember that Philadelphia has other rules about what a job ad may and may not say. You cannot ask about salary history, for example. See our guide to Philadelphia pay transparency and wage equity rules so your job postings pass both tests in one edit.

Checklist for your hiring templates

Work through this list once, then save the updated templates so every Philadelphia hire starts from a compliant version.