The California legislature and governor passed several new laws governing the employer-employee relationship that will take effect on January 1, 2012. One of these significantly restricts the ability to conduct background checks on current and prospective employees. Under California Labor Code Section 1024.5, employers may not obtain consumer credit reports for employment purposes. While this does not seem like a significant issue, the definition of “consumer credit report” is broad, and includes “any written, oral, or other communication of any information by a consumer credit reporting agency bearing on a consumer's credit worthiness, credit standing, or credit capacity, which is used or is expected to be used, or collected in whole or in part, for the purpose of serving as a factor in establishing the consumer's eligibility for: (1) credit to be used primarily for personal, family, or household purposes, or (2) employment purposes, or (3) hiring of a dwelling unit…”