§1316b — Title 2 The Congress | U.S. Code

§1316b Rights and protections relating to criminal history inquiries

Title 2 › Chapter CHAPTER 24— - CONGRESSIONAL ACCOUNTABILITY › Subchapter SUBCHAPTER II— - EXTENSION OF RIGHTS AND PROTECTIONS › Part Part A— - Employment Discrimination, Family and Medical Leave, Fair Labor Standards, Employee Polygraph Protection, Worker Adjustment and Retraining, Employment and Reemployment of Veterans, and Intimidation › § 1316b

Last updated Apr 6, 2026|Official source

Summary

Employing offices must follow the same limits as federal agencies when asking job applicants about criminal records. They may not ask a covered applicant for criminal history if asking would be forbidden for an agency under 5 U.S.C. 9202. When applying that rule, a "conditional offer" means an offer for a covered job that depends on the results of a criminal history check. The rules in 5 U.S.C. 9206 also apply to employing offices, as guided by Board regulations. If an employing office breaks the rule, the remedy is the same one that would apply under 5 U.S.C. 9204, except any suspension is treated like the unpaid-leave suspension for covered employees in section 1312. Applicants may use most remedies in subchapter IV, except sections 1407, 1408, and any parts that let someone file a civil suit or seek judicial review. The Board must issue implementing rules not later than 18 months after December 20, 2019, generally matching the OPM rules under the Fair Chance to Compete for Jobs Act of 2019 unless the Board shows good cause to change them. The effective date is when 5 U.S.C. 9202 starts applying to agencies. Definitions: "agency", "criminal history record information", and "suspension" — defined as in 5 U.S.C. 9201.

Title 2, §1316b

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(a)In this section, the terms “agency”, “criminal history record information”, and “suspension” have the meanings given the terms in section 9201 of title 5, except as otherwise modified by this section.

(b)(1)(A)Except as provided in subparagraph (B), an employee of an employing office may not request that an applicant for employment as a covered employee disclose criminal history record information if the request would be prohibited under section 9202 of title 5 if made by an employee of an agency.

(B)For purposes of applying that section 9202 under subparagraph (A), a reference in that section 9202 to a conditional offer shall be considered to be an offer of employment as a covered employee that is conditioned upon the results of a criminal history inquiry.

(2)The provisions of section 9206 of title 5 shall apply to employing offices, consistent with regulations issued under subsection (d).

(c)(1)The remedy for a violation of subsection (b)(1) shall be such remedy as would be appropriate if awarded under section 9204 of title 5 if the violation had been committed by an employee of an agency, consistent with regulations issued under subsection (d), except that the reference in that section to a suspension shall be considered to be a suspension with the level of compensation provided for a covered employee who is taking unpaid leave under section 1312 of this title.

(2)An applicant for employment as a covered employee who alleges a violation of subsection (b)(1) may rely on the provisions of subchapter IV (other than section 1407 or 1408 of this title, or a provision of this subchapter that permits a person to obtain a civil action or judicial review), consistent with regulations issued under subsection (d).

(d)(1)Not later than 18 months after December 20, 2019, the Board shall, pursuant to section 1384 of this title, issue regulations to implement this section.

(2)The regulations issued under paragraph (1) shall be the same as substantive regulations issued by the Director of the Office of Personnel Management under section 2(b)(1) of the Fair Chance to Compete for Jobs Act of 2019 11 See References in Text note below. to implement the statutory provisions referred to in subsections (a) through (c) except to the extent that the Board may determine, for good cause shown and stated together with the regulation, that a modification of such regulations would be more effective for the implementation of the rights and protections under this section.

(e)section 1302(a)(12) of this title and subsections (a) through (c) shall take effect on the date on which section 9202 of title 5 applies with respect to agencies.

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

References in Text

This subchapter, referred to in subsec. (c)(2), was in the original “this title”, meaning title II of Pub. L. 104–1, Jan. 23, 1995, 109 Stat. 7, which is classified principally to this subchapter. For complete classification of title II to the Code, see Tables. section 2(b)(1) of the Fair Chance to Compete for Jobs Act of 2019, referred to in subsec. (d)(2), probably means section 1122(b)(1) of Pub. L. 116–92, which relates to

Regulations

and is set out as a note under section 9201 of Title 5, Government Organization and Employees. section 1122 of Pub. L. 116–92 is the second section of the Fair Chance to Compete for Jobs Act of 2019, which was enacted as subtitle B of title XI of Pub. L. 116–92.

Prior Provisions

A prior section 207 of Pub. L. 104–1 was renumbered section 208 and is classified to section 1317 of this title.