NYC Enacts 'Ban the Box' Law refresh
David Siegel
Namely is Hiring! Business Consultants | Northeast | Join Namely’s Winning Team ??
Measure Effective October 27, 2015
New York City has enacted a local law, effective October 27, 2015, which generally prohibits employers with 4 or more employees from taking certain types of discriminatory actions based on an employee's or applicant's arrest record or criminal conviction(s).
Prohibited Actions
Under the local law, it is an unlawful discriminatory practice for a covered employer or employment agency (or their agents) to:
- Declare, print or circulate (or cause to be declared, printed or circulated) any solicitation, advertisement, or publication that directly (or indirectly) expresses any limitation or specification in employment based on a person's arrest or criminal conviction; or
- Make any inquiry or statement related to the pending arrest or criminal conviction record of any person who is in the process of applying for employment until after the employer (or its agent) has extended a conditional offer of employment to the applicant.
Permissible Inquiries and Procedures
After extending a conditional offer of employment, a covered employer or employment agency (or their agents) may inquire about an applicant's arrest or conviction record if, before taking any adverse employment action based on such an inquiry, they take the following actions:
- Provide a written copy of the inquiry to the applicant (in a manner to be determined by the NYC Commission on Human Rights);
- Perform an analysis of the applicant under Article 23-A of the state correction law, and provide a written copy of such analysis—which must contain certain content—to the applicant (in a manner to be determined by the NYC Commission on Human Rights); and
- After giving the applicant the inquiry and analysis in writing, they allow the applicant at least 3 business days to respond. During this time, the employer must hold the position open for the applicant.
Exceptions
The law does not apply (among other instances) where any state, federal, or local law requires criminal background checks for employment purposes or bars employment based on criminal history.
Click here for additional details on the local law.
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9 å¹´Frank Ferro, CPA, MBA Thank you for adding some insight to the conversation.
IPO Expert Consultant
9 å¹´The original purpose of the law was to assist offenders with a second chance by identifying to employers they had a past so as to help obtain employment. The law had the opposite effect and worked against the person almost never giving them a chance to start over. While im not saying I agree or not but its better than having them return to jail over an over for low level offenses. The USA has more people in jail for low level crimes and mental issues than any other country at a cost of $80 billion a year. We need room for the violent criminals there are too many of them.
HR recruiter
9 å¹´Yes! Very much so!