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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  | Misconduct process overview | Assessment of misconduct

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: 

Process Overview – Student Employment

Initiation of the Employment Misconduct Disclosure (EMD) process:

  1. The misconduct disclosure process is implemented once you submit a “create hire” form in HIRES. There are two new statuses in HIRES:
    1. Mandatory Disclosure Review: Career Success will send a mandatory employment misconduct disclosure form to the student via Docusign.
    2. Mandatory Disclosure: Student must complete a mandatory employment misconduct disclosure form via Docusign within 2 weeks. The hire will be inactivated if the form is not completed within 2 weeks.
  2. Career Success sends the EMD form via Docusign to the student at the “mandatory disclosure review” stage in HIRES.
  3. The student must complete the form and return them via Docusign within 2 weeks.
    1. If the candidate does not complete the EMD form within 2 weeks, the hire will be inactivated. Please encourage the student to complete the Docusign form.
    2. If the candidate’s response is that no misconduct has taken place, Career Success will mark the disclosure complete and the student will continue to the next stage of the hiring process.
    3. If the candidate’s response discloses employment misconduct occurring in the past seven (7) years, the misconduct assessment process begins. Career Success will send the student a release form. This release form must be completed within 2 weeks, otherwise the hire will be inactivated. The release provides permission for the university to contact the past employer to collect additional information about the misconduct.

Assessment of Misconduct – Student Employment

Career Success, Student Conduct, and Campus Counsel, alongside an ad hoc review committee, will review misconduct information to determine eligibility for hire. Misconduct information is considered potentially disqualifying information (PDI) and may disqualify the selected candidate from employment.

  1. PDI will be formally assessed by Student Conduct per specific guidelines covered under the PDI process review sections of PPSM-21 policy. Student Conduct, Career Success, and Campus Counsel may consult with any or all of the following local offices to reach a final eligibility decision.
    1. Title IX
    2. AA/EEO office
    3. SHR Employee and Labor Relations
    4. Other divisional contacts as necessary
  2. Processing of potentially disqualifying information (PDI):
    1. Student Conduct may contact prior employers to collect more information. Student Conduct may also contact the student to notify the student that Student Conduct will contact the employer and to allow the student the opportunity to provide any supplementary documentation or information they wish to be considered in the final decision.
      1. If supplementary information is provided, it will be assessed before making a final hiring decision.
    2. If Student Conduct determines that the past misconduct does disqualify the student from employment:
      1. the student will receive an email informing them of their status and that they have not met the conditions of employment.
      2. The hiring manager may consult with Career Success about how to proceed with other applicants.
  3. If Student Conduct determines that the student is eligible for hire into the position, Career Success will mark the student mandatory disclosure complete in HIRES. The student will continue to the next phase of the hiring process.