TL;DR / Key Takeaway
Pennsylvania employer background check programs must navigate a patchwork of state-specific restrictions—including the Criminal History Record Information Act (CHRIA), Philadelphia’s Fair Chance Hiring Law, and Pittsburgh’s local ordinance—layered on top of federal FCRA requirements. Non-conviction data, summary offenses, and arrests without conviction carry distinct restrictions under Pennsylvania law that trip up employers who default to generic, multi-state screening policies. Building a Pennsylvania-specific compliance matrix into your screening workflow isn’t optional—it’s the difference between a defensible hiring process and exposure to state civil liability.
What HR Teams Need to Know
Pennsylvania sits in a unique regulatory position: it has no general statewide “ban the box” law for private employers, but it imposes some of the country’s more employer-favorable disclosure limitations through CHRIA, while simultaneously permitting aggressive local ordinances in its two largest cities. This creates a bifurcated compliance landscape that catches multi-location employers off guard.
If you’re screening candidates across Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, and the rest of the Commonwealth, a single statewide policy will not suffice. Philadelphia’s Fair Chance Hiring Law is one of the most restrictive fair-chance ordinances in the country, while Pittsburgh’s ordinance imposes separate, narrower obligations. Meanwhile, rural and suburban Pennsylvania employers operate under comparatively permissive state law, provided they still comply with FCRA and EEOC guidance.
This matters for your screening workflow because jurisdiction determines timing, disclosure content, and adverse action procedure—not just what you can ask, but when you can ask it. Getting the sequence wrong (running a criminal check before a conditional offer in Philadelphia, for example) creates strict liability exposure regardless of intent.
Detailed Analysis
The Regulatory Layers
Pennsylvania employers must comply with at least three, and potentially four, overlapping frameworks depending on location and industry:
| Layer | Applies To | Key Restriction |
|---|---|---|
| FCRA (federal) | All employers using third-party screening vendors | Disclosure, authorization, pre-adverse and adverse action notices |
| PA CHRIA (state) | All Pennsylvania employers | Restricts use of arrest/non-conviction records; requires relevance to job duties for conviction consideration |
| Philadelphia Fair Chance Hiring Law | Employers with employees working in Philadelphia | Delays criminal history inquiry until after conditional offer; limits lookback periods |
| Pittsburgh Fair Chance Ordinance | Employers operating within Pittsburgh city limits | Similar delayed-inquiry structure, narrower scope than Philadelphia’s |
What CHRIA Actually Restricts
The Criminal History Record Information Act is the backbone of Pennsylvania’s approach to criminal background screening, and it’s frequently misunderstood. CHRIA does two specific things that generic multi-state screening policies often miss:
First, it prohibits employers from considering arrest records that did not result in conviction. This is a hard bar—not a “consider with caution” guideline like EEOC’s individualized assessment framework. If your background check vendor returns arrest data without disposition, and your hiring manager factors it into a decision, you’re in direct violation of state law.
Second, CHRIA requires that criminal history “relate to the applicant’s suitability” for the specific position. This is functionally similar to the EEOC’s job-relatedness standard from its 2012 Enforcement Guidance, but it’s codified into Pennsylvania statute, which gives plaintiffs a private right of action that EEOC guidance alone does not.
Philadelphia: The Strictest Local Standard
Philadelphia’s Fair Chance Hiring Law (sometimes called the “Ban the Box” ordinance, though it goes further than that name suggests) imposes obligations that exceed both state and federal baselines:
- No criminal history inquiry until after a conditional offer of employment has been extended.
- No consideration of arrests without conviction, summary offenses more than a limited lookback window, or convictions that have been expunged or sealed.
- Individualized assessment required before withdrawing a conditional offer, with the candidate given an opportunity to respond—separate from and in addition to the FCRA pre-adverse action process.
- Written notice to the candidate explaining the specific basis for any adverse decision, including which conviction is at issue.
This means Philadelphia employers are effectively running two parallel adverse action processes—one to satisfy FCRA, one to satisfy the ordinance—and both must be documented separately in your applicant tracking system.
Pittsburgh: Narrower but Still Distinct
Pittsburgh’s ordinance also delays criminal history inquiry until after a conditional offer, but its scope and enforcement mechanism differ from Philadelphia’s. It applies to city contractors and employers with a threshold number of employees within city limits. Confirm applicability based on your Pittsburgh workforce headcount, not just whether you have a Pittsburgh office address.
Practical Workflow Implications
For HR teams managing candidates across multiple Pennsylvania locations, this translates into a location-triggered screening workflow:
1. Candidate’s work location determines which ordinance (if any) applies.
2. Your ATS or screening platform should flag Philadelphia and Pittsburgh job requisitions for delayed criminal history inquiry.
3. Conditional offer language must be templated differently by jurisdiction to reflect the correct sequencing.
Compliance Considerations
FCRA Baseline Requirements
Regardless of Pennsylvania-specific rules, every background check you run must satisfy FCRA’s procedural backbone:
- Standalone disclosure document, separate from the employment application.
- Written authorization from the candidate.
- Pre-adverse action notice with a copy of the report and a summary of FCRA rights, followed by a reasonable waiting period (commonly five business days, though no fixed federal minimum exists—many employers use this as an internal benchmark).
- Adverse action notice if the final decision is not to hire.
Where Pennsylvania Law Adds Friction
The compliance risk in Pennsylvania isn’t the federal layer—most mature HR teams have FCRA workflows locked down. The risk is assuming FCRA compliance equals full compliance. CHRIA’s arrest-record prohibition and Philadelphia’s delayed-inquiry mandate operate independently of FCRA and require separate procedural checkpoints.
Industry-Specific Overlays
Certain regulated industries add another compliance layer on top of Pennsylvania’s state and local rules:
- Healthcare employers must comply with CMS and state licensing board requirements, including Pennsylvania’s Older Adults Protective Services Act checks for elder care roles.
- Financial services firms remain subject to FINRA fingerprinting and disclosure rules regardless of local fair-chance ordinances.
- Transportation employers must still run DOT-mandated checks, which operate under separate federal preemption from local ban-the-box provisions.
Risk Mitigation Checklist
| Risk Area | Mitigation |
|---|---|
| Considering arrest-only records | Configure vendor reports to suppress non-conviction arrest data by default |
| Inquiring before conditional offer (Philly/Pittsburgh) | Build jurisdiction-triggered workflow gates in your ATS |
| Missing individualized assessment documentation | Standardize a written individualized assessment template referencing job duties |
| Inconsistent lookback periods across locations | Maintain a jurisdiction-by-jurisdiction lookback reference table, reviewed annually |
Action Steps for Your Team
Immediate (quick wins):
- Audit your current adverse action templates to confirm they distinguish between FCRA-required content and Philadelphia/Pittsburgh-specific individualized assessment language.
- Configure your background check vendor to exclude arrest-without-conviction data from Pennsylvania candidate reports at the report level, not just the review level.
- Tag job requisitions by work location in your ATS so recruiters and hiring managers see jurisdiction-specific screening instructions automatically.
Near-term (this quarter):
- Assign ownership: Your compliance officer or senior HR generalist should own the Pennsylvania jurisdiction matrix, updating it whenever Philadelphia or Pittsburgh amends local ordinances.
- Train hiring managers specifically on the prohibition against considering arrest records—this is the single most common CHRIA violation and typically stems from manager-level misunderstanding, not vendor error.
Longer-term (annual review cycle):
- Integrate jurisdiction logic into your HRIS/ATS platform so screening timing is enforced systematically rather than relying on manual recruiter compliance.
- Conduct an annual policy review during your legal team’s employment law audit to confirm your Pennsylvania screening policy reflects current CHRIA interpretation and local ordinance amendments.
FAQ
Does Pennsylvania have a statewide ban-the-box law?
No. Pennsylvania has no general statewide ban-the-box law for private employers. Ban-the-box style restrictions exist only at the local level in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, or apply to public sector employers under separate rules.
Can Pennsylvania employers consider arrest records that didn’t lead to a conviction?
No. CHRIA prohibits Pennsylvania employers from considering arrest records without a conviction when making employment decisions. This is a firm statutory restriction, not a discretionary guideline.
Do Philadelphia’s fair chance rules apply to remote employees based elsewhere?
Applicability generally turns on whether the position’s duties are performed within Philadelphia city limits. If a role is fully remote and based outside the city, the ordinance typically does not apply, but you should confirm classification with legal counsel for hybrid arrangements.
How does CHRIA interact with FCRA’s adverse action process?
They run in parallel and both must be satisfied. FCRA governs the disclosure, authorization, and adverse action notice mechanics of using a third-party report; CHRIA governs what criminal history data may substantively factor into your decision. Compliance with one does not satisfy the other.
What lookback period applies to criminal records in Pennsylvania?
Pennsylvania state law does not impose a fixed statutory lookback period for private employers outside Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, though job-relatedness requirements under CHRIA still apply. Philadelphia’s ordinance imposes its own lookback restrictions that employers must apply specifically to Philadelphia-based roles.
Conclusion
Pennsylvania’s screening landscape rewards precision and punishes generic multi-state policy templates. The combination of CHRIA’s substantive restrictions and the procedural complexity of Philadelphia’s and Pittsburgh’s local ordinances means your compliance program needs jurisdiction-aware logic built into the workflow itself, not just written into a policy binder that recruiters may or may not consult.
Getting this right requires a screening partner that understands the operational mechanics—not just the statutory text. BackgroundChecker.com helps HR teams run FCRA-compliant background checks with fast turnaround, ATS integration, and transparent per-check pricing, and our platform supports jurisdiction-specific workflow configuration for exactly this kind of state-and-local complexity. Whether you’re screening 10 hires or 10,000 across Pennsylvania’s varied regulatory zones, our platform scales with your program, backed by adverse action automation and dedicated account management. Request a demo or start screening today to see how a purpose-built compliance workflow reduces your Pennsylvania-specific exposure.
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This article is for informational purposes and does not constitute legal advice. Consult qualified legal counsel for compliance guidance specific to your organization.
