So I was recently charged with a felony in the state of Illinois for non violent drug offenses. I took a plea agreement for first time offender probation which is 2 years in length but afterwards my criminal record will be expunged. Although it will be expunged the charges still pop up on background checks which made me worry about securing a new job.
When I finally got a new job offer I signed a preliminary offer letter that stated it was a tentative offer based on a background check. This made me nervous thinking that as soon as the employer saw the charges they would immediately disqualify me. Well after a stressful 3 week wait I get a call from the HR department stating that they were revoking my job offer on the basis of my criminal record.
This destroyed me emotionally and made me think it was going to be impossible to get a job for the next 2 years while these charges are on my record. Then after doing some research into felon friendly companies in my area I stumbled across an article about Illinois Senate Bill 1480. This bill was passed into law in 2021 and has one key point of legislation that helped me out: “Employers in the state of IL are barred from making adverse employment decisions based on criminal record.” I couldn't believe it when I read this and thought to myself that this employer could be potentially breaking the law by rescinding my offer letter. I contact the HR department with this info and have a few phone calls with them which ultimately results in them reinstating my offer!
Know your rights and don't let a stupid mistake prevent you from working!
Edit:
There is a caveat to this law employers are barred from doing this unless the employer can show (1) the conviction is substantially related to the person's job or (2) employing the person despite the conviction would pose an unreasonable safety risk.