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

Oregon employers may run background checks on candidates, but Oregon restricts several of the things a check can include and when it can be used. As of October 2026, the main Oregon rules on top of the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act are a near-ban on credit history, a ban on seeking salary history, the rule that conviction questions wait until the initial interview, protection for expunged juvenile records, set-asides that let a candidate treat the case as if it never happened, and a ban on demanding social media access. Portland goes further: no criminal history at all until a conditional offer, then an individualized assessment and a written notice.

The federal steps are in the FCRA background check process, and the statewide interview rule, its coverage and a recruiter script are on Oregon's ban-the-box law. This page covers what those leave out, with each statute linked to the Oregon Legislature's site.

What does Oregon add to the federal FCRA?

Mostly limits on content rather than extra forms. We did not find an Oregon statute requiring its own disclosure, copy or lookback rule for employment background reports, so the federal FCRA sets the paperwork and the reporting periods: no time limit on convictions, and seven years for arrests and other adverse items on jobs paying under $75,000 (15 U.S.C. § 1681c). What Oregon adds sits in ORS chapter 659A, its employment discrimination chapter: the credit history rule, the salary history rule, the interview rule, the social media rule and protection for expunged juvenile records. The credit and interview rules are enforced through the Bureau of Labor and Industries' complaint process.

Which records can Oregon employers not use?

• Expunged juvenile records. ORS 659A.030(1) makes it an unlawful employment practice for an employer to refuse to hire, bar or discharge someone, or discriminate in pay or terms, "because of an individual's juvenile record that has been expunged pursuant to ORS 419A.260 to 419A.271." It also bars any employer or employment agency from using an application form or making "any inquiry in connection with prospective employment" that expresses a limitation on the basis of an expunged juvenile record, and bars an employment agency from refusing to refer someone for that reason.
• Set-aside convictions, arrests and charges. Under ORS 137.225, a person who has completed the sentence may move to set aside eligible convictions after a waiting period (for example, seven years for a Class B felony and five years for a Class C felony), and arrests, citations and charges that did not lead to a conviction can be set aside too. Once the order is entered the court seals the records, the conviction or arrest "shall be deemed not to have occurred, and the person may answer accordingly any questions relating to its occurrence." ORS 137.226 lets people under 21 at the time of a marijuana conviction apply after one year.

In practice, a sealed set-aside should not appear in a report, and an Oregon candidate who answers "no" to a conviction question about a set-aside matter is answering as the statute allows. Phrase application and offer-stage questions to exclude set-aside convictions and expunged juvenile records.

When can you ask about criminal history in Oregon?

Statewide, ORS 659A.360 makes it unlawful to exclude an applicant from an initial interview solely because of a past conviction, which includes requiring disclosure on the application or before the initial interview, or before a conditional offer if there is no interview. After that, the statute lets the employer consider conviction history. Portland sets a later line:

Portland's details. Under Portland City Code 23.10.030, as amended effective January 1, 2025, an employer may consider criminal history "only after making a conditional offer of employment" and may rescind only if it determines in good faith that a specific offense or conduct is job related and consistent with business necessity, after assessing the nature and gravity of the offense, the time elapsed and the nature of the job. The definitions in 23.10.020 cover employers acting "directly or through an agent" and exclude government employers and those with fewer than six employees. Under 23.10.040, the chapter does not apply where law requires considering criminal history, to law enforcement and criminal justice employers, or for nonemployee volunteers, and for jobs serving children, the elderly and other vulnerable groups, and positions designated by administrative rule, the employer may consider criminal history at any point and use the City Criminal History Matrix, but must follow the chapter's other requirements. The city may contract with the Bureau of Labor and Industries to enforce the chapter (23.10.060).

Can Oregon employers check credit, salary history or social media?

Credit. ORS 659A.320 makes it an unlawful employment practice to "obtain or use for employment purposes information contained in the credit history of an applicant," or to refuse to hire or otherwise discriminate based on it. The exceptions are federally insured banks and credit unions, employers required by state or federal law to use credit history, listed public safety officers, and information that is "substantially job-related" where the employer's reasons are disclosed in writing. Applicants may complain to the Bureau of Labor and Industries or sue. Other states are compared on credit check laws for employers.

Salary history. ORS 659A.357 bars seeking salary history from the applicant or a current or former employer, but allows asking for written authorization to confirm prior pay after an offer that includes an amount of compensation; see Oregon's salary history ban.

Social media. ORS 659A.330 bars requiring or requesting an applicant's personal social media login, requiring them to add the employer or an employment agency as a contact, compelling them to open the account in the employer's presence, and refusing to hire someone who declines.

Which Oregon jobs require criminal records checks?

• Schools. For a state or nationwide criminal records check through the Oregon State Police under ORS 181A.195, the Department of Education may require fingerprints of school district and private school contractors and their employees with direct, unsupervised contact with students, people newly hired by a school district or private school, public charter school employees, and some community college faculty teaching at school sites. School districts must send the information; private schools may (ORS 326.603).
• Child care. Covered individuals must apply to and be enrolled in the Department of Early Learning and Care's Central Background Registry "prior to the provision of care" (ORS 329A.030).
• Residential care, adult foster homes, home health and in-home care. The Department of Human Services or the Oregon Health Authority completes a criminal records check on employees of residential facilities and adult foster homes, publicly funded workers with contact with residents or support service recipients, and home care and personal support workers registering with the Home Care Commission. Home health agencies and in-home care agencies must conduct a criminal background check before hiring or contracting with anyone who will have direct contact with patients or clients (ORS 443.004).

These are the cases where "law requires the consideration of an applicant's criminal history," which both ORS 659A.360 and Portland's chapter exempt from their timing rules. For a staffing agency, agree with the client who submits fingerprints or registry applications and when the worker may start.

Oregon background check rules at a glance

What should recruiters and staffing agencies do in Oregon?

1. Find out where the job is performed. A job done mostly in Portland for an employer with six or more employees moves every criminal history step, including the background check, to after a conditional offer.
2. Remove credit checks from standard packages. Run one only when a 659A.320 exception applies, and give the candidate the written reasons when relying on the job-related exception.
3. Word questions for Oregon. Ask about convictions only, after the initial interview, and exclude set-aside convictions and expunged juvenile records. Do not ask for salary history at any stage before an offer.
4. Keep criminal history out of interviews and notes. If a candidate volunteers a case, do not follow up or note it in the ATS. If you transcribe interviews with an AI note taker, remove the passage from any notes you share.
5. Write the Portland notice. If an offer is rescinded in Portland, the notice must be written and name the convictions relied on; combine it with the FCRA notices from background check notification emails.
6. Put it in a policy. A background check policy that names the Portland and statewide steps keeps recruiters and clients consistent.

Other Oregon rules for the same hire: hiring employees in Oregon, Oregon drug testing laws, E-Verify in Oregon, staffing agency licensing in Oregon, Oregon non-compete law and recording interviews in Oregon.