Delaware background check laws for employers

At a glance

The Delaware rules on each topic, in one line. Federal law applies to every topic.

What a background check report may include

Who it covers: Consumer reporting agencies and anyone who furnishes to them (medical debt, 6 Del. C. 2507J); anyone with access to expunged records (11 Del. C. 4376).

In force since: October 27, 2025

Delaware has no seven-year rule, salary threshold, or arrest-record limit of its own. Two state limits reach report content. First, medical debt: no person may report medical debt to a consumer reporting agency, and a CRA may not make a consumer report it knows or should know contains medical-debt information (in force October 27, 2025). The chapter states the intent that medical debt not be used in credit, employment, or housing decisions. Second, expungement: an expunged arrest, charge, or conviction may not be disclosed by anyone with access to the record, and the person may not be asked about it (see clean_slate).

6 Del. C. 2507J(b) · 6 Del. C. 2501J · 85 Del. Laws c. 107 (SS 1 for SB 156), sec. 2

Sealed and expunged records

Who it covers: All employers and anyone else who asks about criminal history (4372(d)); anyone with access to expunged records (4376).

In force since: August 1, 2024

Delaware expunges automatically. From August 1, 2024 the State Bureau of Identification checks monthly for cases eligible for mandatory expungement and expunges them without a petition. Mandatory expungement (4373) covers cases terminated in favor of the accused and listed violations and misdemeanors after three or five years; discretionary expungement (4374) by petition covers other misdemeanors after three years and felonies after seven. A person is not required to disclose, and should not be asked to disclose, an expunged arrest, charge, or conviction, for any purpose. Anyone with access to an expunged court or law-enforcement record may not open, review, or disclose it without a court order; violation is a class B misdemeanor. The exception is an employment application with a law-enforcement agency.

Exceptions

• Employment applications as an employee of a law-enforcement agency, and law-enforcement officers investigating crime (4376(a)(1)).
• Criminal justice agencies for diversion eligibility, probation before judgment, sentencing, and concealed-carry licensing (4376(a)(2), (g)).
• Offenses excluded from mandatory expungement under 4373(b), including domestic violence crimes and offenses against children.

11 Del. C. 4372(d) · 11 Del. C. 4373A(b) · 11 Del. C. 4376(a)(1)

Salary history questions

Who it covers: Employers and employers’ agents (definition by reference to 19 Del. C. 709A: any person acting in the interest of an employer); no size threshold in 709B.

In force since: December 14, 2017

An employer or its agent may not screen applicants by compensation history, including minimum or maximum prior-pay criteria, and may not seek an applicant’s compensation history from the applicant or a current or former employer. Discussing and negotiating compensation expectations is allowed if the employer does not ask for history. After an offer with compensation terms has been extended and accepted, the employer may seek history solely to confirm it. An employer is not liable for a non-employee agent’s violation if it told the agent the rules and instructed compliance.

Exceptions

• Confirming compensation history after an accepted offer with compensation terms (709B(e)).
• Negotiating compensation expectations without requesting history (709B(d)).

19 Del. C. 709B(b) · 81 Del. Laws c. 41 (HB 1), sec. 2

Cannabis use and testing

Who it covers: All Delaware employers for the medical-marijuana rule (16 Del. C. 4905A(a)(3)); adult-use statute leaves employers untouched.

In force since: July 1, 2011

Medical: an employer may not discriminate in hiring, termination, or any term of employment, or otherwise penalize a person, because of registered-cardholder status or a registered patient’s positive test for marijuana components or metabolites. The test protection falls away if the patient used, possessed, or was impaired by marijuana at the workplace or during work hours, and the whole protection falls away if compliance would cost the employer a federal monetary or licensing benefit. Adult use: the Marijuana Control Act imposes no requirement or restriction on employers as to terms and conditions of employment, accommodation, policies, or discipline. Pre-employment THC testing is not limited by statute.

Exceptions

• Use, possession, or impairment on the employer’s premises or during work hours (4905A(a)(3)b.).
• Where failing to act would cause the employer to lose a monetary or licensing-related benefit under federal law or regulation (4905A(a)(3)).

16 Del. C. 4905A(a)(3) · 4 Del. C. 1304 · 78 Del. Laws c. 23 (Delaware Medical Marijuana Act), sec. 4926A

The state consumer reporting law

Who it covers: Not applicable.

No general state FCRA analogue. Delaware’s Clean Credit and Identity Theft Prevention Act (6 Del. C. ch. 22) governs security freezes and identity-theft police reports only. It adds no employment disclosure, authorization, investigative-report, free-copy, or CRA registration requirement. The one CRA content rule is the Medical Debt Protection Act bar on medical debt in consumer reports (6 Del. C. 2507J; see reporting_limits).

6 Del. C. 2201 · 6 Del. C. 2507J(a)

Where federal law alone applies

We found no Delaware rule for private employers on these topics. The FCRA and other federal laws still apply.

• Criminal history questions
• Credit checks
• Drug testing procedures

Coming changes

Laws already passed that take effect later.

• From September 26, 2027. Pay transparency: new 19 Del. C. 709C requires the hourly or salary compensation range and a general description of benefits and other compensation in every job posting (internal and external), and on request before any compensation discussion where no posting exists. Applies to employers with 26 or more employees, for jobs located in Delaware and non-international remote jobs offered by Delaware-based employers; temporary or interim immediate hires are exempt. The Code page labels 709C ‘[Effective Sept. 26, 2027]’. 85 Del. Laws c. 228 (HS 2 for HB 105, 153rd General Assembly, signed), adding 19 Del. C. 709C

Every state’s changes, in date order: What changed.

Adverse action notices

Before you reject or act against someone because of a background check report, the FCRA requires a pre-adverse action notice, a wait, and then a final notice. The adverse action letter generator writes both notices and adds the Delaware requirements where they apply.

The waiting period calculator gives the date under the federal rule.

Paperwork at hire

Besides the federal Form I-9 and W-4, Delaware sets these for each new hire.

• State withholding. Collect a signed federal Form W-4 from each new hire and use it for Delaware withholding; with no certificate, withhold as single with no allowances. Form Federal Form W-4
• New hire report. Report each new hire to Delaware within 20 days. State new hire reporting
• Notices at hire. Written notice of pay rate and payday (4 or more employees); Delaware Paid Leave: Notice of Employee Rights (Healthy Delaware Families Act) (10 or more employees); Delaware Sexual Harassment Notice (information sheet) (4 or more employees); Pregnancy rights and accommodation notice (4 or more employees).

Build the new hire checklist for Delaware, with city rules, special cases and a due date for each item.

Sources

• 6 Del. C. 2507J(b)
• 85 Del. Laws c. 107 (SS 1 for SB 156), sec. 2
• 11 Del. C. 4372(d)
• 19 Del. C. 709B(b)
• 81 Del. Laws c. 41 (HB 1), sec. 2
• 16 Del. C. 4905A(a)(3)
• 4 Del. C. 1304
• 78 Del. Laws c. 23 (Delaware Medical Marijuana Act), sec. 4926A
• 6 Del. C. 2201

Last reviewed October 20, 2026 · General information, not legal advice.

After the hire

Once a background check clears, payroll and onboarding come next. Rippling (paid link) runs payroll, benefits and onboarding from one employee record.