In the Courts: PA Court Ends Blanket Ban on Employment for Certain Criminal Convictions

​The Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania has declared that a section of the state's Older Adults Protective Services Act that bans covered organizations from employing people convicted of certain criminal offenses is unconstitutional. It therefore enjoined the state from enforcing the lifetime ban on employment.

The provision in question applied to long-term care nursing facilities, older adult daily living centers, personal care homes, domiciliary care homes, and home healthcare agencies. At the time the action was filed, it stated that facilities could "in no case" hire or retain an applicant who had been convicted of any of certain enumerated criminal offenses. However, those who had been working at such an organization for at least a year as of the effective date of the...