Criminal backgrounds One part of the bill, called the Employee Background Fairness Act, calls for strictly limiting the ability of employers to use a personâs criminal history to deny someone a job or take any other adverse action unless there is a âdirect relationshipâ between the conviction and the job, or if there is a specific federal, state or local law prohibiting the employment of such a person. It also contains similar language regarding housing in buildings under the jurisdiction of public housing authorities. âIt's just important to note that 55% of Illinois adults have a criminal record, and an applicant with a record is 50% less likely to get a callback for a job offer or an interview than an individual who does not,â said Matt Smith of Cabrini Green Legal Aid. âSo what we see is that just routinely, people who've been caught up in the criminal legal system, sometimes decades prior, continue to face huge and insurmountable challenges in getting stable employment as they move forward.â