Fair Chance Updates: San Francisco, Washington & Philadelphia

Fair chance hiring laws continue to evolve on the local and state level across the country. Here’s what employers need to know about the latest developments in San Francisco, Washington and Philadelphia.

San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance Amendments

Starting August 10, 2026, amendments to San Francisco’s Fair Chance Ordinance (FCO) take effect. These amendments were passed on July 10, 2026, leaving little time for employers to review and modify processes to come into compliance.

Employers with 5 or more employees located or doing business in San Francisco are subject to the FCO, which applies to positions where an employee works, or will work, at least 8 hours per week in the City. The FCO was originally passed in 2014, with the last major amendments taking place in 2018. There are two key changes employers need to review from a process standpoint.

Criminal history considerations

Under the current FCO, employers cannot consider several different types of criminal history information including: (i) arrests not leading to convictions, (ii) participation in pretrial or posttrial diversion programs, (iii) dismissed, expunged or otherwise invalidated convictions, (iv) juvenile records, (v) offenses other than felonies or misdemeanors such as infractions, (vi) convictions older than 7 years old, and (vii) convictions for conduct that has since been decriminalized (including the non-commercial use and cultivation of cannabis).

Under the amended FCO, employers may also not use out-of-state convictions or arrests for conduct that is lawful in California related to: (i) abortion-related healthcare, (ii) drag performances, (iii) gender-affirming care and (iv) spontaneous abortion. Definitions for those new categories are included in the amendments.

Adverse action impacts

The FCO has long regulated the steps employers must follow when considering taking an adverse action based on criminal history information. That process is now modified under the amendments. Specially, during the 7 day waiting period following the pre-adverse action letter, if the applicant or employee provides additional information or evidence of inaccuracy to the employer, the employer must provide a response confirming receipt within 14 days and delay a final adverse action for a reasonable period after providing a response to confirm receipt of the information.

During this process, if the employee/applicant makes a “reasonable factual showing” that the proposed adverse action is based solely on a conviction that is not a “directly-related conviction”, the employer must withdraw the adverse action. Notably, the four new categories cannot ever be considered as a “directly-related conviction”. The amended FCO also requires employers to provide the final adverse action notice within 30 days of receipt of information from the employee/applicant or 30 days following pre-adverse action letter.

Penalties for violations have also increased so employers need to review the amendments carefully to determine what changes may be needed to their policies and procedures.

Washington AG Publishes Fair Chance Act Guide

On July 1, 2026 amendments to Washington’s Fair Chance Act took effect for employers.[1] The amendments significantly alter the existing Fair Chance Act, with the law applying to applicants and employees. There are also impacts to the adverse action process employers need to review.

From a resources standpoint, the Washington Attorney General has now published a Washington Fair Chance Act Guide. This Fair Chance Act Guide must be provided “immediately” to a job applicant who voluntarily discloses their criminal record during an interview. In this scenario, employers must also inform the applicant in writing that:

1. An employer may not ask for or receive information about an applicant’s criminal history until after making an initial determination that (a) the applicant is otherwise qualified for the position and (b) making a conditional offer of employment; 

2. An employer may not implement policies or practices that automatically or categorically exclude job applicants with a criminal record, including rejecting applicants for failure to disclose a criminal record prior to receiving a conditional offer of employment; 

3. An employer may not carry out a tangible adverse employment action based on an applicant’s or employee’s adult arrest record or juvenile conviction record, provided the individual is not out on bail or released on their own personal recognizance pending trial; and 

4. An employer may not carry out a tangible adverse employment action solely based on an applicant’s or employee’s adult conviction record, unless the employer has a legitimate business reason for taking such action. 

Philadelphia Commission on Human Relations Issues New Resources

Extensive amendments to Philadelphia’s Fair Criminal Records Screening Standards Ordinance (FCRSSO) went into effect January 6, 2026. Since then, the Philadelphia Commission on Human Relations (CHR) has published two resources employers should review: (1) Fair Chance Hiring Intake Form and (2) Notice: 2026 amendments to Fair Chance Hiring Law. The CHR also published an updated Fair Chance Hiring poster.

The Fair Chance Hiring Intake Form is worth a review as it outlines the questions posed to an individual who is attempting to file a complaint. This includes various questions under categories such as job advertisement, job application, the interview and if a conditional offer was withdrawn. There are also questions to address whether the potential claimant was terminated from employment due to a pending criminal charge. This resource potentially serves as a helpful checklist for employers to cross-reference when evaluating their policies and procedures in light of the FCRSSO’s amendments.

The Notice: 2026 amendments to Fair Chance Hiring Law document includes six key provisions addressed in the revamped ordinance. As it’s only one page, this is not a comprehensive resource that could theoretically be relied upon to evaluate compliance needs so employers should review the amendment FCRSSO in full.

Notably, the CHR has not published any sort of template or sample document that could be used by employers to meet the requirement that they provide information regarding an individual’s rights under the FCRSSO when sending the pre-adverse action notification. The general recommendation is that employers develop their own notice of rights to include with this letter, seeking legal counsel support to do so if needed.  

Disclaimer: The content on this blog is provided for general informational purposes only and does not constitute formal legal advice. You should not act upon this information without seeking professional counsel.

[1] Note: amendments went into effect for employers with 15 or more employees. For all other employers, the amendments will take effect January 1, 2027.