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Employment Misconduct Disclosure, SB 791

Effective December 1, 2024, all non-academic student employment jobs posted on Handshake must include an employment misconduct disclosure due to the passage of SB 791. Effective January 1, 2025, all students selected for non-academic student employment jobs must complete an employment misconduct disclosure form and a release form allowing UCSC to contact prior employers. These forms will be completed during the onboarding process in HIRES. Please contact Career Success at ucscel@ucsc.edu if you have any questions about the process.

What is SB 791 | How will SB 791 impact non-academic student employment | Include misconduct disclosure requirement in Handshake postings 

What is SB 791?

California Senate Bill (SB) 791 requires disclosure and assessment of any final administrative or judicial decisions issued within the past seven (7) years from the date of submission of an employment application determining that the applicant committed misconduct, as described in the statutes.

The process includes authorization permitting UC Santa Cruz to request the release of information which will be evaluated to determine the candidate’s final eligibility for hire into the staff position. Selected candidates are permitted to disclose if they have filed an appeal with the previous employer, administrative agency, or court, if applicable.

How will SB 791 impact non-academic student employment?

Starting January 1, 2025, all students selected for a non-academic student employment opportunity must now complete a disclosure form providing details of any misconduct in the past seven (7) years, and sign a release form that authorizes the release of information by the candidate’s previous employers. This process will be initiated after the hiring manager submits a “create hire” form to begin the onboarding process. If a student is not determined eligible for hire into the non-academic student employment opportunity, the supervisor and student will separately be notified. If a student does not complete the disclosure requirement, they will not be able to be hired into the job. This new requirement may cause delays in the onboarding process.

Include misconduct disclosure requirement in Handshake job postings

Given the employment misconduct disclosure requirement, all Handshake job postings for non-academic student employment jobs must contain the following description on or after December 1, 2024. This ensures that all applicants understand they will be required to complete the disclosure and authorization of information release form. We have manually added this description to all active job postings in Handshake. Please make sure to include this information when posting new jobs in Handshake.

“Misconduct Disclosure Requirement: As a condition of employment, the final candidate who accepts a conditional offer of employment will be required to disclose if they have been subject to any final administrative or judicial decisions within the last seven years determining that they committed any misconduct; received notice of any allegations or are currently the subject of any administrative or disciplinary proceedings involving misconduct; have left a position after receiving notice of allegations or while under investigation in an administrative or disciplinary proceeding involving misconduct; or have filed an appeal of a finding of misconduct with a previous employer. 

  1. “Misconduct” means any violation of the policies or laws governing conduct at the applicant’s previous place of employment, including, but not limited to, violations of policies or laws prohibiting sexual harassment, sexual assault, or other forms of harassment, discrimination, dishonesty, or unethical conduct, as defined by the employer. For reference, below are UC’s policies addressing some forms of misconduct: