Louisiana Fair Chance Law: Coverage, Assessment, and Enforcement

The Louisiana Fair Chance Law, codified at RS 23:291.2, restricts how employers with 20 or more employees use criminal history in hiring: they cannot consider arrests that did not lead to a conviction when that information comes from a background check, and they must run an individualized assessment before rejecting an applicant based on a conviction. The statute was enacted as Act 406 in 2021 and applies to both private and public employers meeting the size threshold.¹

Which Employers and Positions Are Covered

The law reaches employers with 20 or more employees working in Louisiana. Smaller employers are outside its scope, though federal anti-discrimination principles under Title VII and the EEOC’s guidance on criminal records still apply to them.

The statute opens with the phrase “unless otherwise provided by law,” which preserves mandatory disqualifications set by other statutes and regulations.¹ Where a separate Louisiana law or federal regulation requires a criminal background check and disqualification for certain convictions, that requirement controls. Fields with mandated screening, including healthcare, childcare, law enforcement, and gaming, continue to operate under those rules. Louisiana’s fingerprint-based checks for staff at nursing homes and adult residential care facilities are one example.

Records Employers Cannot Consider

When criminal history surfaces through a background check, the employer must ignore arrests that did not result in a conviction. Dropped charges, dismissals, and acquittals cannot factor into the hiring decision.¹ The employer also cannot request that information.

A boundary worth noting: the statute governs what employers do with information obtained through a background check. If an applicant volunteers a conviction during an interview or writes it on an application, the statute’s specific mechanics don’t reach that disclosure. EEOC guidance on criminal records still applies regardless of how the information came in.

The Individualized Assessment

A blanket policy of rejecting anyone with a criminal record does not satisfy Louisiana law. When a conviction appears on a background check, the employer must evaluate three factors against the specific job:

The nature and gravity of the offense. What the offense actually involved matters more than the label attached to it.
The time that has elapsed since the offense or conviction. Older convictions weigh less.
The nature of the job sought. The conviction must relate to the actual duties. A fraud conviction is relevant to a bookkeeping role and far less relevant to a warehouse position with no access to financial systems.

These are the same factors the EEOC’s 2012 Enforcement Guidance directs employers to consider when developing a targeted screen for criminal records.² The EEOC guidance also suggests weighing rehabilitation, employment history since the conviction, character references, and whether the individual is bonded under a federal or state program.

Documenting the assessment protects the employer if a rejected applicant later challenges the decision. The statute doesn’t set a retention period for these evaluations, but a written record of how the three factors were weighed is the evidence that shows the assessment happened.

What Applicants Can Request

An applicant has the right to request, in writing, a copy of any background check information the employer used during the hiring process. On receiving that request, the employer must provide the background check report along with any other information considered in the decision, including results from online searches or public court record searches.¹

This is the practical tool for spotting a violation. The disclosure will show whether the employer improperly considered a non-conviction arrest, and it will show what the employer looked at. Errors in commercial background reports are common; if the report is inaccurate, the applicant can dispute it with the reporting agency under the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act.

How the Law Is Enforced

RS 23:291.2 does not carry fines or administrative penalties, and no state agency has a specific investigative role under it. What the statute creates instead is a private right of action with a mandatory pre-suit step.

An applicant who believes the law was violated must first send the employer a written notice explaining the basis for the alleged violation. The employer and applicant then have 30 days to make a good-faith effort to resolve the dispute. Only after that window can the applicant file a court action. Many disputes resolve during this negotiation period, but the notice needs to be deliberate and the claim needs to be documented.

The larger enforcement risk for employers sits alongside the state statute rather than inside it. If a screening practice has a disparate impact on protected groups, the EEOC can pursue it under Title VII regardless of state law. The 2012 EEOC guidance treats blanket exclusion policies as difficult to defend as a business necessity.²

Certificate of Employability

Louisiana pairs the fair chance rules with a separate tool under RS 23:291.1: the certificate of employability. A judge presiding over a reentry court can issue a temporary certificate to someone under the court’s intensive supervision and a permanent certificate to someone who has successfully completed the reentry program.³

The certificate matters to employers because of what it blocks. An employer who hires someone holding a valid certificate cannot be sued for negligent hiring solely because that employee has a prior criminal conviction.³ That protection has limits. It does not eliminate vicarious liability for acts within the scope of employment, and the certificate becomes void if the individual is later convicted of any felony.

Federal Rules That Interact With the State Law

Louisiana employers with federal contracts have a second layer to comply with. The Fair Chance to Compete for Jobs Act of 2019 prohibits federal agencies and federal contractors from requesting criminal history information before making a conditional offer of employment.⁴ Louisiana’s statute regulates how background check results are evaluated; the federal law controls timing. Exceptions cover positions requiring security clearances, sensitive national security duties, and federal law enforcement roles.⁵ Where both regimes apply, following the federal timing rule will generally satisfy the state one.

Two federal programs reduce the financial risk of hiring applicants with criminal records. The Work Opportunity Tax Credit provides a credit of up to $2,400 per hire for a qualifying employee who is formerly incarcerated or previously convicted of a felony, calculated as 40 percent of up to $6,000 in first-year wages, with a partial 25 percent credit when the employee works at least 120 but fewer than 400 hours.⁶ As of early 2026, the WOTC is authorized for employees who began work on or before December 31, 2025; check whether Congress has extended the program before relying on it for a 2026 hire. The Federal Bonding Program provides fidelity bonds covering the first six months of employment at no cost to the employer or applicant and with a zero-dollar deductible, aimed at job seekers considered higher risk, including those with criminal records.⁷

1
Justia Law. Louisiana Revised Statutes RS 23-291.2 – Criminal History; Hiring Decisions
2
U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Enforcement Guidance on the Consideration of Arrest and Conviction Records in Employment Decisions
3
Justia Law. Louisiana Revised Statutes RS 23-291.1 – Certificate of Employability
4
U.S. Department of the Treasury. The Fair Chance to Compete Act
5
U.S. General Services Administration. Fair Chance Improvement Act Explainer
6
Internal Revenue Service. Work Opportunity Tax Credit
7
The Federal Bonding Program. The Federal Bonding Program