by Richard Greenberg and Andrew L. Pepper - The National Law Review
Hawaii has narrowed the scope of what employers can consider regarding an individual’s conviction history when making employment decisions. Hawaii employers have long been required to limit their consideration of felony and misdemeanor convictions to a 10-year lookback period, unless they fell within one of the statutory exemptions as part of its longstanding “ban the box” legislation. State law has further required employers to apply a “rational relationship” test before denying a prospective or current employee a position following a background check, which means an employer may only consider those convictions occurring in the permissible time period if there is a “rational relationship” between the convicted crime and the prospective job.