Richard I. Greenberg, Susan M. Corcoran, Michael A. Griffin, Brian K. Keeley - Jackson Lewis

In the 2025 legislative session, Washington State expanded its Fair Chance Act in a number of different ways to impose additional limits on employers’ criminal background inquiries of applicants and employees. The changes go into effect for medium and large employers in July 2026 and for small employers in January 2027, giving employers plenty of time to get ready.

Employers with employees in the City of Seattle are already subject to most of these new requirements and restrictions. Therefore, the changes to state law will supplement those Seattle requirements and apply to employers throughout the State.