On February 26, 2024, the Lehigh County Human Relations Ordinance was enacted with an effective date of June 1, 2024, establishing county-specific non-discrimination requirements for employment, housing, education, health care and public accommodations.

The ordinance follows recent nationwide trends relating to use of criminal history and salary history in employment.

Specifically, employers may not:

·                Ask, on an employment application, whether the applicant has ever been convicted of a crime;

·                Require a job applicant to disclose prior criminal convictions until after an initial interview;

·                Consider conviction records that do not relate to an applicant’s suitability for employment; or

·                Ask a job applicant what their salary is or was from any current or previous employment.

The law specifically prohibits “eliciting any information or making or keeping a record of, or using any form of application or application blank, containing questions or entries concerning the protected class of any applicant for employment.” This resembles recently enacted laws around the country that, for instance, prohibit employers from requiring applicants to disclose age on employment applications.

Dealerships with operations in Lehigh County should review and if necessary revise application materials and hiring procedures to comply with the new ordinance available at https://www.lehighcounty.org/Departments/Community-Economic-Development/Human-Relations-Commission.

The ordinance also creates a Lehigh County Human Relations Commission charged with investigating and enforcing claims of discrimination.