Oregon Background Check Rules: Criminal, Credit, and Drug Testing

Oregon background check laws go further than the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act by restricting when employers can ask about criminal history, whether they can pull credit reports, what they can demand from your social media accounts, and how they must handle old or expunged records. If you are applying for a job in Oregon, or hiring for one, the rules below control the process from the first application through any final rejection based on a report.

When Employers Can Ask About Criminal History

Under ORS 659A.360, an employer cannot ask about criminal convictions on a written application or at any point before an initial interview takes place. If the employer skips the interview stage entirely, the question has to wait until after a conditional job offer.¹ The point is to have your qualifications considered first.

The rule applies to every employer in the state regardless of size, with four exceptions: positions where federal, state, or local law requires criminal history screening; law enforcement agencies; employers that are part of the criminal justice system; and unpaid volunteer positions.¹

How a Conviction Must Be Weighed

Getting past the timing rule does not let an employer reject you automatically. Oregon’s Bureau of Labor and Industries requires a good-faith determination that the specific offense is job-related and consistent with business necessity before criminal history factors into a decision.² A blanket “no felons” policy does not meet that standard.

A decade-old theft conviction has little to do with a warehouse job. A recent fraud conviction may genuinely matter for an accounting role. Employers who skip that analysis are the ones facing complaints. Portland adds another layer through its Fair Chance ordinance, which requires a formal individualized assessment modeled on EEOC guidance: the seriousness of the offense, how much time has passed, and the nature of the job.²

Credit Checks Are Presumptively Off Limits

ORS 659A.320 makes it an unlawful employment practice for most employers to pull or use an applicant’s credit history in hiring decisions.³ Four exceptions exist:

Federally insured banks and credit unions running their standard hiring process.
Positions where a state or federal statute mandates credit screening.
Certain public safety officers, including commissioned peace officers and regulatory specialists.
Positions where credit history is substantially job-related, provided the employer discloses in writing exactly why credit information matters for that position.³

Most disputes arise under that last exception. “Substantially job-related” is a higher bar than it sounds. General claims that financial responsibility is desirable will not carry the day; the employer needs a real link between the credit information and the duties of the role, put in writing before the report is pulled.

Social Media Accounts

ORS 659A.330 blocks employers from requiring you to hand over your username and password, log into your account in their presence, change your privacy settings, or add the employer as a contact on any social media platform.⁴ Employers also cannot make you create or maintain a personal account, or pressure you into using a personal account to promote the company.⁵ Whether you participate in company marketing on your personal accounts cannot factor into promotions, pay, or other employment decisions.

The protection stops at your privacy settings. Anything visible publicly, without logging in, is fair game for an employer to review. Managing what strangers can see is on you.

One narrow investigation exception applies. If an employer has specific information suggesting a legal or regulatory violation or work-related misconduct, they may require an employee to share content related to the investigation. Even then, they still cannot demand your login credentials.⁵

Expunged and Juvenile Records

Oregon allows certain criminal records to be set aside under ORS 137.225, the state’s term for expungement. Once a record is set aside, it should no longer appear on background checks. Under SB 397, a criminal history data provider that reports outdated information (records that don’t reflect material changes made more than 60 days before the report date) commits an unlawful trade practice.

Juvenile records get an extra layer. Under ORS 659A.030, refusing to hire, firing, or discriminating against someone based on an expunged juvenile record is itself an unlawful employment practice. Employers cannot even ask about expunged juvenile records during hiring unless the inquiry is tied to a genuine occupational qualification for the specific role.⁶

If a set-aside record still shows up on a report, dispute the entry with the reporting agency. Oregon’s expungement protections and the FCRA’s accuracy requirements give you two separate avenues.

How Far Back a Report Can Go

Oregon does not cap how far back criminal convictions can be reported. A felony conviction from 20 years ago can still appear. For positions paying less than $75,000 per year, the FCRA does cap several other categories on reports produced by a consumer reporting agency:

Arrests that did not lead to a conviction: seven years.
Civil suits and judgments: seven years.
Credit history: seven years.
Paid tax liens: seven years.
Collection accounts: seven years.
Bankruptcies: ten years.

A criminal records check requested directly from the Oregon State Police is limited to arrest records within one year of the date of arrest. Motor vehicle reports through the Oregon DMV may go back up to ten years. If something should have aged off your report and hasn’t, the FCRA gives you the right to dispute it.

Marijuana and Drug Testing

Legal recreational marijuana in Oregon does not restrict employers. Pre-employment drug testing is permitted, and applicants who fail or refuse a required test can be turned down. A medical marijuana card is not a shield: an employee who tests positive for THC can still be fired, whether the use happened on or off duty. Employers who test should have a written policy and give notice to applicants and employees who will be tested.

Disclosure and Adverse Action Under Federal Law

Every background check run through a consumer reporting agency also triggers the FCRA. Before the report is ordered, the employer has to give you a standalone written disclosure, meaning a separate document containing nothing but the notice that a background check may be obtained, and get your written authorization.⁷ Burying the disclosure inside the application violates the statute. The obligation stays with the employer even if a screening company handles the process.

If the results might lead to rejection, the FCRA requires two steps. First, a pre-adverse action notice with a copy of the report and the document titled “A Summary of Your Rights Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act,” giving you time to dispute anything wrong. Second, if the employer still decides against you, a final adverse action notice that includes the name, address, and phone number of the reporting agency, a statement that the agency did not make the hiring decision, and notice of your right to a free copy of your report within 60 days and to dispute inaccurate information.⁸ Skipping either step exposes the employer to federal liability.

If an Employer Breaks the Rules

Premature criminal history questions, unauthorized credit pulls, and social media intrusions are all unlawful employment practices under Chapter 659A. You can file a complaint with the Bureau of Labor and Industries, which investigates and may enforce, or you can file a civil lawsuit.

Under ORS 659A.885, a court can order injunctive relief, reinstatement, and back pay reaching up to two years before the complaint was filed, and may award the prevailing party reasonable attorney fees at trial and on appeal.⁹ Federal FCRA claims run separately, with their own statutory damages and the right to a free copy of any report used against you.

Document what happened and when. These cases turn on the specifics of timing and notice: which question was asked at which stage, what disclosure you signed, what letter you received, and what dates appear on each piece of paper.

1
Oregon State Legislature. Oregon Code 659A.360 – Restricting Criminal Conviction Inquiries; Exceptions
2
Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries. Hiring Discrimination and Ban the Box
3
Oregon Public Law. Oregon Code 659A.320 – Discrimination Based on Information in Credit History Prohibited; Exceptions; Remedies for Violation
4
Oregon Public Law. Oregon Code 659A.330 – Employee Social Media Account Privacy
5
Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries. Social Media in the Workplace
6
Oregon State Legislature. Oregon Code 659A.030 – Discrimination Based on Expunged Juvenile Record
7
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1681b – Permissible Purposes of Consumer Reports
8
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1681m – Requirements on Users of Consumer Reports
9
Oregon Public Law. Oregon Code 659A.885 – Civil Action