Massachusetts background check laws for employers (2026): what you can check and when

Massachusetts employers may run background checks, but the state has its own criminal record system, CORI, and its own consumer reporting law, and both add steps the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act does not. As of October 2026, the main rules are: a seven-year limit on reporting arrests and convictions with no high-salary exception; written notice before a consumer report and a state adverse action notice within ten business days; CORI access limited to felony convictions for ten years and misdemeanors for five, with signed acknowledgment, identity checks, logs and a seven-year retention cap; a copy of the record to the candidate before any questions about it; and no application questions about criminal history at all.

When questions are allowed and which ones are never allowed under chapter 151B, plus the CORI copy rule and the written CORI policy, are covered on Massachusetts's ban-the-box page, and the federal steps are on the FCRA background check process. This page adds the reporting limits, the CORI access and record-keeping rules, sealed records and required checks.

How far back can a Massachusetts background check go?

Chapter 93, section 52(a)(5) bars a consumer reporting agency from reporting "records of arrest, indictment, or conviction of crime which, from date of disposition, release, or parole, antedate the report by more than seven years." The only exceptions in section 52(b) are credit transactions and life insurance of $50,000 or more. There is no exception for employment, so the seven-year limit applies to a Massachusetts job whatever it pays. Under federal law, convictions have no time limit and the seven-year limit on arrests lifts at $75,000 (15 U.S.C. § 1681c), so the Massachusetts rule is the stricter one for senior hires.

What notices does Massachusetts require for consumer reports?

• Before the report. A screening company must have an agreement with the employer that no report will be requested until the employer has given the candidate written notice that a consumer report will be requested; for current employees, notice in an employee manual is enough (section 60).
• Investigative reports. Before requesting a report on character, reputation, personal characteristics or mode of living, the employer must disclose in writing that such a report commonly includes that information, "the precise nature and scope of the investigation requested and the right to have a copy of the report upon request," and get the candidate's written permission (section 53).
• After an adverse decision. When employment is denied wholly or partly because of a consumer report, the employer must notify the candidate in writing within ten business days, in a clear format no smaller than ten-point type, with the screening company's name, address and toll-free number and a statement of rights in substantially the words the statute sets out, including a free copy within sixty days and the right to dispute (section 62).

These run alongside the federal stand-alone disclosure and the pre-adverse action notice. The ten-business-day clock is a Massachusetts addition, so put it in the same workflow as the federal final notice.

What does a CORI check show, and what must the employer do?

CORI comes from the state's Department of Criminal Justice Information Services. Under chapter 6, section 172, an employer evaluating current or prospective employees, including part-time, contract and intern roles and volunteers, gets standard access limited to:

• felony convictions for 10 years after disposition, including the end of any incarceration or custody;
• misdemeanor convictions for 5 years after disposition;
• pending criminal charges, including cases continued without a finding until dismissed;
• older convictions, for as long as the person's most recent conviction is still available;
• convictions for murder, manslaughter and sex offenses punishable by state prison, permanently, unless sealed (section 172(b)).

Employers that a statute, regulation or accreditation requirement authorizes to see more get that wider access for that purpose (section 172(a)(2)). The same section puts duties on every employer that requests CORI:

Section 172(e) also gives a safe harbor. An employer is not liable for negligent hiring "by reason of relying solely" on CORI from the department, and is not liable for discrimination for failing to hire on CORI that turns out to be erroneous, if it decided within 90 days of obtaining the CORI and followed identity verification procedures consistent with the statute and the department's regulations. Decide within 90 days and keep the identity check on file.

Which records can Massachusetts candidates leave out?

Chapter 151B, section 4(9) bars questions on the initial written application and, at any stage, questions about arrests without conviction, a first conviction for listed minor misdemeanors, most misdemeanors more than three years old, and sealed or expunged records; the full list is on the ban-the-box page. Sealing has its own wording rule. Under chapter 276, section 100A, any application used to screen applicants that asks about prior arrests or convictions must include a statement that an applicant with a sealed record on file with the commissioner of probation may answer "no record," and the same answer is allowed for most juvenile matters. If a client's later-stage form asks about records, check that the statement is on it.

Which Massachusetts jobs require criminal record checks?

• Schools. Public and private schools must obtain all available CORI at least every three years for current and prospective employees and volunteers who may have direct and unmonitored contact with children, including school transportation, and a state and national fingerprint-based check for school employees, apprentices, interns and student teachers with that contact (chapter 71, section 38R).
• Early education and care. The Department of Early Education and Care runs fingerprint-based state and national checks as part of licensing child care programs, for license holders and applicants, certain caregivers and household members (chapter 15D, section 7).
• Home and community care. Agencies that provide homemaker, home health aide and other services to elderly or disabled people may obtain CORI on workers who will care for them or have access to their files, beyond standard access (chapter 6, section 172C).

A staffing agency placing tutors, aides, bus drivers or child care workers should confirm with the client who runs the CORI and fingerprint checks, because both the access level and the retention rules attach to whoever requests them.

Can Massachusetts employers check credit or salary history?

Salary history may not be sought under chapter 149, section 105A; see Massachusetts's salary history ban. We found no Massachusetts statute that restricts employment credit checks, and the state is not on our list of credit check laws; the federal FCRA steps and the chapter 93 notices above still apply to a credit report.

Massachusetts background check rules at a glance

What should recruiters and staffing agencies do in Massachusetts?

1. Tell the screening company the job is in Massachusetts so it applies the seven-year limit with no salary exception.
2. Never ask candidates for their own CORI. Request it from the state with a signed acknowledgment and an ID check.
3. Give the record before you ask about it, and keep criminal history out of interviews. If a candidate volunteers a case, do not follow up or note it. If you transcribe interviews with an AI note taker, remove the passage from any notes you share.
4. Decide within 90 days of getting CORI to keep the section 172(e) safe harbor, and send the chapter 93 adverse action notice within ten business days of the decision.
5. Control the file. Limit access to decision makers, log any sharing, and destroy CORI within seven years of the final decision or the end of employment.
6. Write the CORI policy down if you run five or more checks a year; a background check policy template is a starting point. Changes for Massachusetts employers in 2026 and 2027 are tracked on new hiring laws in Massachusetts for 2027.