Excerpted from National Employment Law Project blog by Beth Avery and Phil Hernandez

Nationwide, over 150 cities and counties have adopted what is widely known as “Ban the Box” so that employers consider a job candidate’s qualifications first, without the stigma of a criminal record. Born out of the work of All of Us or None, these initiatives provide applicants a fair chance by removing the conviction history question on the job application and delaying the background check inquiry until later in the hiring.

Momentum for the policy has grown exponentially, particularly in recent years. Federally, President Obama endorsed ban-the-box by directing federal agencies to delay inquiries into job applicants’ records until later in the hiring process.

There is a total of 29 states representing nearly every region of the country that have adopted the policies.

You can read the full post here.