Like most newfangled legislative ideas, so-called “ban the box” laws, have enjoyed success at some government levels but failed in others. The Washington Post this week reported that Washington DC has levied almost $500,000 in fines from 1,100 charges of discrimination against private employers since it banned the box with the Fair Criminal Record Screening Act in 2014. In light of that article, we thought it beneficial to review the status of ban the box across the country and advise you accordingly. Some 12 states plus the District of Columbia have strict statewide bans on the books, ranging in applicability from those employing as many as 15 workers to all private employers regardless of the number of employees. They are California, Connecticut, Hawaii, Illinois, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington. Employers located elsewhere however, are not necessarily out of the woods as another 32 cities and/or counties also ban the box in some shape, manner or form. We found this article from the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) to be particularly helpful in identifying those communities where employers need to be especially aware of job application restrictions.