Employment Screening Compliance · Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania Background Check Laws for Employers
Pennsylvania limits how employers use criminal records, and the penalties bite.
Philadelphia tightened its rules again on January 6, 2026.
Below, we explain each statute, name the agency that enforces it, and show what compliance looks like.
What Changed for Pennsylvania Employers
Recently, two developments reshaped Pennsylvania screening compliance, and both still catch employers out.
Philadelphia tightened its Fair Chance Hiring law
City Council passed Bill No. 250373-A on September 25, 2025, and the Mayor signed it in October.
Compliance became mandatory on January 6, 2026.
The misdemeanor lookback dropped from seven years to four, and summary offenses are now off limits entirely.
See the Morgan Lewis analysis for the full amendment text.
The Third Circuit widened CHRIA’s reach
In Phath v. Central Transport LLC, decided January 2026, the court read 18 Pa.C.S. § 9125 broadly.
Protection now follows the type of information an employer receives, not its source.
Therefore, the statute applies even when an applicant volunteers a conviction during an interview.
Fisher Phillips covers the employer takeaways.
Both changes landed after most published Pennsylvania guides were written. Check the date on anything else you read.
Pennsylvania Background Check Statutes at a Glance
Each rule below carries a citation, a plain description and the agency that administers it.
Commonwealth statutes
| Citation | What it does | Administering agency |
|---|---|---|
| 18 Pa.C.S. § 9125 | Limits employer use of criminal history to convictions related to job suitability; requires written notice | Enforced by private suit and the PA Office of Attorney General |
| 18 Pa.C.S. § 9183 | Creates the civil remedy for CHRIA violations, including minimum and punitive damages plus attorney fees | PA Office of Attorney General; private plaintiffs |
| 18 Pa.C.S. § 9121 | Governs dissemination of criminal history record information | Pennsylvania State Police, Central Repository |
| 18 Pa.C.S. §§ 9122.1–9122.3 | Petition-based and automatic Clean Slate limited access sealing | Administrative Office of Pennsylvania Courts; Pennsylvania State Police |
| 18 Pa.C.S. § 9122.5 | Bars use of expunged or limited-access records for employment, housing and school admission | Pennsylvania courts; Pennsylvania State Police |
| 18 Pa.C.S. § 9124 | Restricts how licensing boards use criminal records | Bureau of Professional and Occupational Affairs, PA Department of State |
| 43 P.S. § 951 et seq. (PHRA) | Bans employment discrimination at employers with four or more employees; 180-day filing window | Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission |
Local ordinances and industry rules
| Citation | What it does | Administering agency |
|---|---|---|
| Philadelphia Code ch. 9-3500 | Fair Criminal Record Screening Standards, amended effective January 6, 2026 | Philadelphia Commission on Human Relations |
| Philadelphia Code § 9-1130 | Bans most employment credit screening, with listed exceptions | Philadelphia Commission on Human Relations |
| Philadelphia Code ch. 9-5500 | Bans pre-employment marijuana testing for most roles; § 9-5502 lists the exceptions | Philadelphia Commission on Human Relations |
| Philadelphia Code § 9-1131 | Wage Equity Ordinance; bars salary history inquiries | Philadelphia Commission on Human Relations |
| Pittsburgh Ban the Box Ordinance | Delays conviction inquiries by City contractors until an applicant is otherwise qualified | City of Pittsburgh Office of Equal Protection |
| Pittsburgh Code Title Six, ch. 659, § 659.02 | Bars medical marijuana patient discrimination and pre-employment cardholder testing at employers with five or more employees | City of Pittsburgh |
| 35 P.S. § 10231.2103(b) | Protects certified medical marijuana patients from status-based discrimination | Pennsylvania Department of Health |
| 75 Pa.C.S. § 6114 | Controls release of driver records; consent required on Form DL-503 | PennDOT Bureau of Driver Licensing |
| 23 Pa.C.S. § 6344 | Requires three clearances for roles with direct contact with children | PA Department of Human Services; Pennsylvania State Police; FBI |
| 24 P.S. § 1-111 | Mandates criminal history review for school employees and contractors | Pennsylvania Department of Education |
| 35 P.S. § 10225.502 | Requires criminal history checks in facilities serving older adults | Pennsylvania Department of Aging |
| Act 75 of 2019; 43 P.S. § 167.1 et seq. | Requires E-Verify for construction-industry employers and on public-works contracts of $25,000 or more | PA Department of Labor and Industry (Act 75) |
CHRIA Is Pennsylvania’s Core Screening Statute
The Criminal History Record Information Act sits at 18 Pa.C.S. ch. 91. Most employers know it exists, yet in practice few follow section 9125 closely.
The Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General publishes the full act as a PDF.
What section 9125 actually allows
Subsection (b) is short and strict. Employers may weigh felony and misdemeanor convictions only so far as they relate to suitability for the position applied for. Summary offenses and arrests without convictions carry no such permission, so leave them out of the decision entirely. Read the statutory text on Justia before you write your policy.
The written notice most employers skip
Subsection (c), meanwhile, requires written notice to the applicant. That duty triggers whenever a decision not to hire rests in whole or in part on criminal history. Notably, this obligation stands apart from the federal FCRA adverse action letters. You owe both, so send both.
Relevance is a judgment you must document
Unfortunately, Pennsylvania supplies no matrix of disqualifying offenses for private employers. Instead, you must connect the conviction to the duties of that specific job. So write the reasoning down at the moment you make it. Later, that contemporaneous note becomes your best evidence.
The part most guides omit
What a CHRIA Violation Costs
Section 9183 gives CHRIA real teeth, and plaintiffs’ lawyers have noticed. Littler documents a rising wave of CHRIA claims against employers.
$100 minimum
Courts award actual and real damages of not less than $100 for each violation.
$1,000 to $10,000
Willful violations add exemplary and punitive damages inside that range.
Fee shifting
The losing employer also pays the applicant’s litigation costs and attorney fees.
The AG may sue
Beyond private plaintiffs, the Attorney General can seek injunctive relief and compliance.
Each rejected applicant counts as a separate violation. Consequently, a flawed screening policy scales into class exposure quickly.
How the Third Circuit Widened CHRIA in 2026
Phath v. Central Transport LLC reached the Third Circuit in January 2026. The employer argued that section 9125 governs only information obtained from a criminal history record. However, the court disagreed. Protection attaches to the type of information received, regardless of where it came from.
Why that ruling matters in practice
Picture an applicant who mentions an old conviction during a conversation. Before Phath, many employers treated that disclosure as outside CHRIA. Now the relevance test and the written notice duty both apply. Accordingly, train interviewers to route any volunteered criminal history through the same documented process.
Lookback limits
How Far Back Can a Pennsylvania Background Check Go?
Pennsylvania sets no statewide cap on reporting criminal convictions. Instead, three separate rules fill that gap.
No state conviction cap
CHRIA imposes no time limit on convictions anywhere in Pennsylvania.
Relevance to the job, not age, governs whether you may consider one.
Seven years, federally
The FCRA at 15 U.S.C. § 1681c caps most non-conviction items at seven years.
That cap lifts when the role pays $75,000 or more per year.
Philadelphia is stricter
Since January 6, 2026, felonies reach back seven years and misdemeanors only four.
Summary offenses fall outside consideration completely.
Measuring the Philadelphia window
The ordinance excludes periods of incarceration from the count. So a sentence served can push an old conviction back inside the window. Sealed and expunged records stay off limits at any age. When a role spans multiple counties, apply the strictest rule that touches the work.
Clean Slate and Limited Access Records
Pennsylvania pioneered automatic record sealing, and since 2018 the program keeps expanding.
Three waves of Clean Slate
Act 56 of 2018 launched automatic sealing at 18 Pa.C.S. § 9122.2.
Act 83 of 2020 removed outstanding court costs as a barrier to relief.
Clean Slate 3.0, signed as House Bill 689 in December 2023, went further still.
Misdemeanor sealing now runs seven years, summary convictions five, and some drug felonies ten.
What sealing means for your hiring file
Fortunately, section 9122.5 is blunt about the consequences.
Expunged and limited-access records may not be used for employment, housing or school admission.
Moreover, the individual may answer questions as though the offense never happened.
A sealed record therefore cannot be treated as a disqualifying conviction under any Pennsylvania law.
In addition, section 9122.6 protects you when you hire a person whose record was expunged or sealed. You are immune from claims arising from misconduct related to that record.
Why compliant vendors matter here
Sealed cases vanish from the State Police repository, yet stale database copies persist across the industry.
Consequently, reporting one exposes you to CHRIA damages and an FCRA accuracy claim at once.
Our researchers screen reportability before release, so sealed matters never reach your file.
Ban the Box in Pennsylvania
No statewide ban-the-box law reaches private employers in Pennsylvania. Instead, local rules do the work, and they differ sharply.
Philadelphia covers private employers
Chapter 9-3500 of the Philadelphia Code is the strictest fair-chance rule in the Commonwealth.
Employers may not ask about criminal history on an application or during the interview stage.
Therefore, a conviction inquiry waits until after a conditional offer.
After January 6, 2026, several new duties apply as well.
- Job ads and background-check notices must state that an individualized assessment will follow
- Rejection is permitted only where a reasonable person would find a specific unacceptable risk
- Written notice must identify the exact convictions relied upon
- Applicants get at least ten business days to submit errors, rehabilitation or mitigation evidence
- A summary of rights must appear on the employer’s website and premises
- Adverse action within 90 days of a protected complaint raises a rebuttable retaliation presumption
The Philadelphia Commission on Human Relations enforces all of it, and applicants may sue directly.
Jackson Lewis and Littler both break down the amendments in detail.
Pittsburgh reaches contractors, not every employer
Pittsburgh’s ordinance took effect on August 3, 2023. It binds City contractors, who must wait until an applicant is otherwise qualified before asking.
Private employers with no City contract, however, fall outside it entirely.
The Office of Equal Protection publishes guidelines and handles complaints.
Commonwealth agencies follow their own policy
Executive-branch hiring removed the conviction question from state applications years ago. That policy governs Commonwealth agencies only, so it creates no private-sector duty.
Credit Checks in Pennsylvania Hiring
Pennsylvania places no statewide restriction on employment credit checks. Philadelphia, however, bans them for most roles under section 9-1130 of its Code.
When a Philadelphia employer may still pull credit
Still, the ordinance carves out a narrow set of positions.
- Roles requiring bonding under city, state or federal law
- Supervisory or managerial roles that set business direction or policy
- Jobs with authority over money transfers, payments, collections or contracts, outside routine retail
- Positions with access to financial information beyond ordinary retail transactions
- Roles touching confidential or proprietary information that derives value from secrecy
- Any case where federal or state law requires the credit information
Before taking adverse action, you must give the person written notice of the specific information you relied on. That notice must also state the right to obtain and dispute it. Outside Philadelphia, the FCRA still governs every credit pull you run.
Drug Testing and Medical Marijuana
Generally, private employers across Pennsylvania may test, since the state regulates the practice lightly. Three rules narrow that freedom, though.
Certified patients hold statutory protection
The Medical Marijuana Act at 35 P.S. § 10231.2103(b) bars discrimination based on certification status alone. In Palmiter v. Commonwealth Health Systems, decided August 2021, the Superior Court found an implied private right of action. Even so, you may still discipline impairment at work, and safety-sensitive limits remain available. Status by itself, however, cannot justify a rejection.
Philadelphia bans most pre-hire marijuana tests
Chapter 9-5500 of the Philadelphia Code took effect on January 1, 2022.
Exceptions cover police and other law enforcement roles, plus any job requiring a commercial driver’s license. They also cover positions supervising children, medical patients, disabled people or vulnerable adults. Safety-sensitive roles, federal contract or grant requirements, and collective bargaining terms also remain testable. Section 9-5502 carries the current exception list, and the Commission is drafting regulations to expand it. Applicants may file a complaint with the City when an employer oversteps.
Pittsburgh protects medical marijuana cardholders
Pittsburgh Code Title Six, ch. 659, § 659.02 took effect on September 24, 2024. It covers employers with five or more employees. You may not discriminate in hiring or employment because of lawful status as a Pennsylvania medical marijuana patient. In addition, you may not require a pre-employment marijuana test of a cardholder. During employment, you may test a cardholder only on reasonable suspicion of impairment at work or after a workplace accident. However, positions under U.S. DOT or PennDOT drug-testing rules are exempt, as are positions that require carrying a firearm. Applicants under a collective bargaining agreement that addresses pre-employment testing are also exempt. Meanwhile, testing for other controlled substances is not restricted.
Salary History Restrictions
Pennsylvania imposes no statewide salary history ban on private employers.
Philadelphia’s Wage Equity Ordinance at section 9-1131 does, and it survived a constitutional challenge.
Indeed, the Third Circuit lifted the injunction in February 2020, so the ban is fully enforceable.
Pittsburgh restricts salary history questions for City employment and contractors rather than all employers.
Consequently, build your compensation questions around budgeted range, never prior pay.
Driving Records and the DPPA
Section 6114 of the Pennsylvania Vehicle Code controls release of driver information.
Specifically, PennDOT’s Bureau of Driver Licensing administers the process through Form DL-503.
What you need before you order
First, an employer request requires the driver’s signature authorizing release.
The standard record costs $15.00, while a certified record runs $47.00.
Federal law adds another layer, since the Driver’s Privacy Protection Act limits permissible uses.
Therefore, pull a record only when the role genuinely involves driving.
You can review Form DL-503 on PennDOT’s site before building your consent packet.
Industry-Specific Pennsylvania Requirements
Notably, several sectors carry mandatory checks that go well beyond ordinary screening.
Children: 23 Pa.C.S. § 6344
The Child Protective Services Law requires three clearances for direct-contact roles.
Applicants obtain a State Police criminal history, a Department of Human Services child abuse clearance, and an FBI fingerprint check.
DHS explains each clearance and the process for employees and volunteers.
Schools: 24 P.S. § 1-111
Acts 24 and 82 require criminal history review for school employees and contractors.
Three Commonwealth Court decisions in 2012 held the lifetime ban unconstitutional as applied.
The Department of Education now directs case-by-case review with documented legal analysis.
Older adults: 35 P.S. § 10225.502
OAPSA requires criminal history checks in facilities serving older adults.
Its lifetime employment ban fell in Peake v. Commonwealth in 2015.
The Department of Aging states plainly that the ban is not enforceable, and recommends individualized risk assessment.
Licensed occupations: 18 Pa.C.S. § 9124
Licensing boards may not reject an applicant on unrelated convictions.
Act 53 of 2020 added a preliminary review so applicants learn their status before investing in training.
The Bureau of Professional and Occupational Affairs administers these determinations.
Healthcare facilities
Nursing homes, home care agencies and assisted living residences follow OAPSA plus federal exclusion screening.
Check the federal and state exclusion lists monthly, not annually.
A single excluded employee can jeopardize your reimbursement.
Transportation and CDL roles
Federal motor carrier rules layer onto Pennsylvania’s driver record process.
Employers must verify licensing, query the Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse, and document annual reviews.
Pennsylvania adds no separate state-level carrier screening statute.
Construction and public works: E-Verify
Pennsylvania mandates E-Verify in two settings. Since October 7, 2020, every construction-industry employer, public or private, must verify all new employees through E-Verify. That duty comes from the Construction Industry Employee Verification Act, Act 75 of 2019. The Department of Labor and Industry enforces it. In addition, the Public Works Employment Verification Act covers public-works contracts of $25,000 or more. Contractors and subcontractors on those contracts must use E-Verify for new hires. That act, Act 127 of 2012 at 43 P.S. § 167.1 et seq., took effect on January 1, 2013. Otherwise, Pennsylvania sets no E-Verify mandate for employers outside construction.
Federal layer
The FCRA Process Every Pennsylvania Employer Owes
Meanwhile, federal law runs alongside CHRIA, and the two duty sets do not overlap neatly.
Stand-alone disclosure
Give a clear written disclosure in a document containing nothing else.
Liability waivers and state-law notices do not belong on that page.
Written authorization
Next, collect signed permission before you order any consumer report.
Afterward, keep the signed copy for your file.
Pre-adverse action
Send the report plus A Summary of Your Rights Under the FCRA before deciding.
Then allow a reasonable window for the applicant to respond.
Adverse action notice
Issue the final notice, name the consumer reporting agency, and state that it made no decision.
Add your separate section 9125(c) notice in the same mailing.
Philadelphia employers insert the ten-business-day rebuttal period between steps three and four. Build the longest timeline your jurisdictions require, then apply it consistently.
What Pennsylvania Courts Have Actually Held
Ultimately, real decisions shape CHRIA far more than general guidance does. Below are rulings you can look up and cite.
| Decision | Holding that matters to employers |
|---|---|
| Phath v. Central Transport LLC (3d Cir. 2026) | Section 9125 follows the type of information received, not its source, so volunteered disclosures count |
| El v. SEPTA, 479 F.3d 232 (3d Cir. 2007) | A blanket criminal-record policy survived Title VII review only because the employer produced evidence tying it to job requirements |
| Negron v. School District of Philadelphia, 994 F. Supp. 2d 663 (E.D. Pa. 2014) | Denying a provisional employee permanent status can qualify as a hiring decision under CHRIA |
| Ripley v. Sodexo, Inc. (W.D. Pa. 2014) | CHRIA section 9125 governs hiring, and the court declined to extend it to a termination |
| McCorkle v. Schenker Logistics, Inc. (M.D. Pa. 2014) | Rejecting an applicant for falsifying an application is not a rejection “because of” criminal history |
| Peake v. Commonwealth (Pa. Commw. 2015) | OAPSA’s lifetime employment ban violates due process under the Pennsylvania Constitution |
| Palmiter v. Commonwealth Health Systems (Pa. Super. 2021) | The Medical Marijuana Act carries an implied private right of action for certified patients |
Beware of “case law snippets” published without a court, docket number or citation. If you cannot look a case up, do not build policy on it.
Pennsylvania Compliance Checklist
Finally, run this list against your current hiring process.
- Remove conviction questions from applications used anywhere in Philadelphia
- Delay every criminal inquiry until after a conditional offer in Philadelphia roles
- Document a written relevance analysis tying each conviction to that job’s duties
- Send the section 9125(c) notice separately from your FCRA adverse action letter
- Apply the four-year misdemeanor and seven-year felony windows for Philadelphia positions
- Drop summary offenses from Philadelphia decisions entirely
- Give Philadelphia applicants at least ten business days to rebut before a final call
- Post a fair-chance summary of rights on your website and at your worksite
- Confirm your vendor screens out sealed, expunged and limited-access records
- Train interviewers to route volunteered criminal history through the same documented process
- Verify the three CPSL clearances for any role with direct contact with children
- Replace automatic lifetime bans in schools and older-adult facilities with individualized review
- Collect a signed DL-503 before ordering any Pennsylvania driver record
- Keep credit inquiries inside the section 9-1130 exceptions for Philadelphia roles
How we help
Compliant Screening for Pennsylvania Employers
BCS Background Screening LLC builds Pennsylvania reports around these rules, not around a generic national template.
Pennsylvania Statewide Criminal Search
Real-time court research across all 67 counties, verified before release.
Order the Pennsylvania real-time statewide search for $20 per name.
County Criminal Court Search
Direct county research where your applicant actually lived and worked.
Motor Vehicle Records
We pull driving histories for delivery, trucking, sales, and CDL positions.
Order Pennsylvania driving records with a compliant DL-503 release.
Federal Criminal Search
District court coverage for offenses that never appear in state systems.
Add a federal criminal search to any package.
SSN Trace and Address History
Identify aliases and reported addresses so you search the right jurisdictions.
Review the SSN trace, included in every package.
Secure accounts
Every account includes optional Multiple Authentication Factor (MAF) protection at sign-in.
Open your account to get started.
Pennsylvania Employment Screening Law FAQs
What law governs employer use of criminal records in Pennsylvania?
The Criminal History Record Information Act, 18 Pa.C.S. ch. 91, governs it.
Section 9125(b) permits consideration of felony and misdemeanor convictions only as they relate to job suitability.
Section 9125(c) then requires written notice whenever criminal history drives a decision not to hire.
CHRIA is enforced through private lawsuits and by the Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General.
Does Pennsylvania have a state equivalent of the FCRA?
Pennsylvania has no general mini-FCRA covering consumer reporting agencies.
CHRIA fills that role for criminal history specifically, and it regulates both agencies and employers.
Chapter 91 controls how the Pennsylvania State Police disseminate records under section 9121.
Meanwhile, the federal FCRA still governs your disclosure, authorization and adverse action steps.
How far back can a Pennsylvania background check report convictions?
Pennsylvania sets no statewide lookback cap on convictions.
The federal seven-year rule at 15 U.S.C. § 1681c limits non-convictions, and it lifts at $75,000 salary.
Philadelphia is stricter: seven years for felonies, four years for misdemeanors, and no summary offenses at all.
Sealed and expunged records stay out of consideration at any age under 18 Pa.C.S. § 9122.5.
What does Pennsylvania’s ban-the-box law require?
No statewide ban-the-box law reaches private employers.
Philadelphia’s Fair Criminal Record Screening Standards, Philadelphia Code ch. 9-3500, does.
Employers there must wait until after a conditional offer, then run an individualized assessment.
The Philadelphia Commission on Human Relations enforces it, and Pittsburgh’s separate ordinance binds City contractors only.
What are the penalties for a CHRIA violation?
Section 9183 sets the remedy, and it is unusually generous to plaintiffs.
Courts award actual and real damages of not less than $100 for each violation.
Willful violations add exemplary and punitive damages of $1,000 to $10,000.
The employer also pays litigation costs and attorney fees, and the Attorney General may seek injunctive relief.
Can Pennsylvania employers run credit checks on applicants?
Statewide, yes, subject only to the federal FCRA.
Philadelphia Code § 9-1130 bans employment credit screening for most roles inside the city.
Exceptions cover bonded positions, managers who set policy, financial-authority roles and confidential-information roles.
Before taking adverse action there, give the person written notice of the specific information you relied on.
That notice must also state the right to obtain and dispute it.
How do we obtain a Pennsylvania driving record lawfully?
Section 6114 of the Pennsylvania Vehicle Code controls release of driver information.
PennDOT’s Bureau of Driver Licensing processes employer requests on Form DL-503.
The driver must sign authorizing release, and the standard record costs $15.00.
The federal Driver’s Privacy Protection Act also limits permissible uses, so order records only for driving roles.
Must we still honor lifetime bans for schools and elder care?
No, and applying one automatically now creates risk.
Commonwealth Court held OAPSA’s lifetime ban unconstitutional in Peake v. Commonwealth in 2015.
Three 2012 decisions reached the same result for the school lifetime ban in 24 P.S. § 1-111.
The Departments of Aging and Education both now direct individualized, documented review instead.
Screen Pennsylvania Applicants With Confidence
We build compliant Pennsylvania reports, and we keep sealed records out of your file.
Start with the real-time statewide search. Then add county, federal and driving records as the role demands.
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This page explains Pennsylvania employment screening requirements in general terms. It is not legal advice, and it creates no attorney-client relationship. Consult qualified counsel before adopting or changing a hiring policy. BCS Background Screening LLC is a consumer reporting agency under the Fair Credit Reporting Act. Reports are furnished only for permissible purposes, and only after the consumer signs a compliant disclosure and authorization. Statutes and local ordinances change. Verify current text with the administering agency before you rely on any summary here. Revised October 2026