SENATE BILL NO. 403

INTRODUCED BY S. STANG

A BILL FOR AN ACT ENTITLED: "AN ACT AUTHORIZING EMPLOYERS WHO PROVIDE IN-HOME CARE SERVICES TO CONDUCT A CRIMINAL HISTORY BACKGROUND CHECK ON APPLICANTS SEEKING EMPLOYMENT AS HOME CARE WORKERS; AND PROHIBITING BACKGROUND CHECKS BASED ON FINGERPRINTS."

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MONTANA:

NEW SECTION. Section 1. Purpose. The purpose of [section 2] is to protect the elderly and persons with disabilities of all ages by authorizing employers to check the criminal history of applicants seeking employment as home care workers in order to determine their fitness as it pertains to public health, safety, and welfare. The safety of vulnerable individuals who are dependent on in-home care services will be improved by authorizing criminal history background checks on prospective employees .

NEW SECTION. Section 2. Criminal background checks for home care worker applicants. (1) An employer who provides in-home care services may request a criminal history background check on any job applicant to whom the employer is considering offering a position as a home care worker. A criminal history background check may not include a background check of national criminal history records based on fingerprints submitted by the applicant to the federal bureau of investigation.

(2) An application for employment must include a place for an applicant to provide criminal history information and must inform the applicant that a criminal history background check may be conducted.

(3) The employer shall review the results of the background check, if one is made, to ascertain whether the applicant is charged with or has been convicted or adjudicated of a crime in order to evaluate the fitness of the applicant for employment as a home care worker. Conviction of an offense that relates to public health, welfare, and safety as it applies to employment as a home care worker is sufficient reason to warrant not hiring an applicant.

(4) An employer may perform a criminal history background check on an employee every 24 months at the employer's expense.

(5) For purposes of this section, the following definitions apply:

(a) "Activities of daily living" means bathing, grooming, transferring, exercise, eating, dressing, medication assistance, toileting, and meal preparation.

(b) "Criminal history background check" means receipt of public criminal justice information from the criminal history record information compiled by the department of justice criminal identification bureau.

(c) "Habilitation training" means services designed to assist individuals to acquire, retain, and improve the self-help, socialization, and adaptive skills necessary to reside successfully in home and community settings.

(d) "Home care worker" means any person who performs in-home care services or personal care services.

(e) "In-home care services" means services provided in a person's home by other than a professionally licensed person that consist of hands-on physical care, help with activities of daily living and instrumental activities of daily living, habilitation training, and supervision.

(f) "Instrumental activities of daily living" means shopping, housework, laundry, money management, socialization, leisure activities, and supervision.

(g) "Supervision" means the provision of protective oversight to an individual who is unable to be safely left alone.

NEW SECTION. Section 3. Codification instruction. [Sections 1 and 2] are intended to be codified as an integral part of Title 50, chapter 1, and the provisions of Title 50, chapter 1, apply to [sections 1 and 2].

- END -