Source: National Employment Law Project
Ohio (2015) – Applies to public employment
Ohio’s fair chance hiring policies are not complete. The “Ohio Fair Hiring Act” remains pending in the legislature, but no decisive information is available as of yet requiring legal changes omitting the current requirements.

Ohio’s government is working on implementing changes to hiring policies within the state, but several organizations have taken steps to make progress to this end. As of June 1, 2015, state employment applications will no longer have specific questions about conviction and arrest history on the initial screening applications, as per the Ohio Department of Administrative Services. In addition, the Department of Administrative Services also took steps towards this change. This organization removed the checkbox from all job applications within its scope. It also has policies in place to require all hiring decision makers to weigh common sense factors in making decisions. This is meant to help ensure only the most relevant and recent information from criminal records is used in the decision process and ultimately in the denial of state employment positions for criminal records.

Commentary: The Ohio Fair Hiring Act has received support from various coalitions in the state including the Ohio Justice & Policy Center and Ohio Organizing Collaborative. If approved, the bill will extend fair hiring practices to cities and counties throughout the state.