On Jan. 1 of this year, Minnesota employers were supposed to stop asking about criminal histories on preliminary job applications. Known as the "Ban the Box'' law, the legislation was designed to give those with a criminal history more opportunities to find jobs.

But the state recently reported that 40 of 50 companies investigated because of complaints this year violated the new law. According to a Nov. 17 Star Tribune story, job applications from those companies still sought information about misdemeanor convictions or alcohol- or drug-related driving offenses.

The good news, though, is that most of the companies "responded favorably" to notification letters from the Minnesota Department of Human Rights and fixed their applications. Target and 3M for example, said that older forms were mistakenly used. And General Mills reported that its problem occurred on a recruiting website, where a system upgrade did not remove the criminal history question until June 1.

Human Rights Commissioner Kevin Lindsey said that the number of violations wasn't large but that he expects the state to receive more complaints, particularly about smaller employers outside the metro area that may not be aware of the change.

These early bumps along the compliance road don't reduce the value of the legislation. It's estimated that 1 in 4 adults in the United States has an arrest or a conviction on their record. Minnesota is one of 13 states with similar laws, and all are intended to help ex-offenders have a better shot at getting hired and reintegrating into society.

Six of those states, including Minnesota, have extended the ban to private employers. This state's rules were passed in 2013 with significant bipartisan support.

As part of a national movement to rethink crime and punishment, many states are examining policies to help ex-offenders become contributing citizens in an era of instant background checks. In addition to "Ban the Box," lawmakers around the country are also looking at expungement policies that would help clear a person's official record more quickly and restore ex-offenders' voting rights.

It's important to understand what the new law does — and what it doesn't do. The law does not require employers to hire someone with a prior arrest or conviction. It does not, for example, force a day care center to hire a convicted child molester or make a bus company take on a driver with multiple drunken-driving convictions. The new rule simply moves the inquiry about criminal history from the first point of contact with an applicant until after the employer decides to interview or extend a conditional job offer.

It is encouraging to see a stepped-up effort by government and the larger community to set former criminal offenders on constructive, crime-free paths. One such effort is Better Futures Minnesota, a Minneapolis-based nonprofit that has worked with 700 of the state's highest-risk formerly incarcerated men since its founding in 2007.

On average, participants have been imprisoned three times. Yet the program's formula of housing, jobs, improved health, personal coaching and social support is producing a recidivism rate 30 percent lower than the 2001-2013 statewide average for all released inmates. The program is funded in part by state and county appropriations and is a worthy candidate for increased funding from the 2015 Legislature.

Better Futures CEO Thomas Adams is a strong backer of the state's new requirement for employers. The rule is valuable not just for job seekers, Adams said, but also as part of larger efforts to increase awareness of the impediments that formerly imprisoned people face as they pursue stability and self-sufficiency.

Prejudice against former offenders is often a barrier to housing and a deterrent to community involvement.

That attitude was on naked display when Minneapolis police union leaders faulted Minneapolis Mayor Betsy Hodges for being photographed with an ex-offender who was volunteering as a vote canvasser before the Nov. 4 election.

To help companies comply with Ban the Box, the Human Rights Department wisely will offer more guidance for employers. Bringing all Minnesota employers on board is a small but important step toward helping ex-offenders rebuild their lives.