Fair Chance Finder

Each jurisdiction gets six scores from 0 to 5: limits on using old convictions (30%), whether violent felonies are covered (20%), strength of the substantive test (20%), timing of the inquiry (10%), procedural protections (10%), and limits on background-check reporting (10%). The composite is the weighted sum, rounded to two decimals. Tiers: 4.5+ Best, 3.5+ Excellent, 2.5+ Good, 1.5+ Moderate, below that Minimal.

Your answers change three of the six scores: the old-conviction age limit (whether your record is beyond it, given your offense level and the clock the law uses), the reporting cap (passed or not), and the offense-scope score where a law's age limit excludes violent felonies. Everything else is the reference score from the research workbook. One reading key, throughout: every limit described here applies to the EMPLOYER, not to you - an age limit, or a cap that is "passed," both mean MORE protection for you, not less.

Months are counted to month-end, capped at today, and years are days divided by 365.25. An age limit applies only when the elapsed years are more than the threshold. Each law starts its clock at a different point: conviction or sentencing, release from custody, or the end of probation or parole. Age limits use each law's own clock. Reporting caps use the statute's disposition/release anchor - the disposition date if you never served custody, release from custody if you did. An age limit listed as pending shows the month it activates for you.

• Federal occupational bars (banking, securities, aviation, firearms licensing, healthcare exclusion lists) apply regardless of state or local law.
• Most laws exempt jobs with children, vulnerable adults, people 65+, law enforcement, and some regulated industries.
• Reporting caps limit what screening companies may report. They do not stop an employer from finding a record through its own courthouse search or from asking you directly where that is lawful.
• Coverage depends on employer size and the work location. Confirm both.
• Some local ordinances may be preempted or narrowed by state law (for example Texas and Michigan).
• COUNTY ORDINANCES GOVERN ONLY UNINCORPORATED LAND - inside a city they do not apply. "Unincorporated Los Angeles County" covers county land but NOT the City of Los Angeles. San Francisco is a consolidated city-county, so its ordinance blankets the entire city. Confirm where the job physically sits.
• Non-U.S. rows: the protection model differs (registers, certificates, data-protection law instead of U.S. reporting caps). Immigration and work-visa checks - where an FBI or home-country police certificate is demanded - are outside every employment law in this matrix; the "Visa & passport reality" panel below covers that layer.
• Violent-exclusion flags apply to felonies; a violent misdemeanor does not trigger them.
• Every limit in this tool applies to the EMPLOYER, not to you - a limit that is "passed" always means more protection for you.
• A later conviction can restart or defeat a time limit. The exact statute of conviction controls sealing eligibility and carve-outs.
• Several rows rest on secondary sources. Each row's confidence is shown under Sources.

The Federal Bonding Program provides free fidelity bonds for at-risk job seekers. The federal Work Opportunity Tax Credit has historically applied to qualifying hires of people with felony convictions; check whether it is currently in effect. Workforce-development programs under WIOA may fund training for justice-involved people.