The Fair Chance to Compete for Jobs Act of 2019 (FCA), as applied by the Congressional Accountability Act (CAA), protects job applicants in the legislative branch by prohibiting employing offices from inquiring into an applicant’s criminal history record information prior to a conditional offer of employment. The FCA, as applied by the CAA, provides that employees who inquire into an applicant’s criminal history record information in a manner that violates the FCA may be subject to discipline including suspensions from employment and fines.
The proposed regulations appeared in substantively-identical versions in both the House and Senate editions of the Congressional Record for June 13, 2024: