The ordinance only applies to employees of the City, not private employees in the city. The new City ordinance becomes effective immediately.
Richmond City Ordinance No. 2013-40 amends the Code of the City of Richmond by adding a new section numbered 2-1119 entitled “Certain employment application question prohibited.” It prohibits the City from inquiring about an applicant’s criminal conviction history in any form used by the City to solicit initial job applications. It does not, however, prohibit the City from conducting criminal history checks after an applicant submits the initial job application, or as may be required or permitted by any federal, state law, or local law.
Richmond becomes the second city in Virginia to ban the box in a growing trend in cities across the country. It follows Newport News, Virginia which banned the box for city employment in October 2012.