Summary of Final Regulations Clarifying and Expanding New York City “Ban the Box” Law, Effective August 5, 2017

New York City has imposed its own “ban the box” law, the Fair Chance Act (FCA), and associated set of regulations on employers, which took effect on October 27, 2015. Recently New York City has issued the final guidelines, effective August 5, 2017, regarding how employers should be conforming to this law. The final regulations expand on and clarify the already burdensome requirements of the FCA, making it more difficult for New York City employers, and national employers doing business in New York City, to screen applicants whose criminal history may affect their ability to do their job or present an unreasonable risk to their business, customers or employees.

Given the large population of Cisive’s New York City clients and hiring conduct in New York City, we thought it important that we post a summary of the key provisions of the final regulations.

Click here to review an excellent summary of the regulations and the recent guidance that was put together by Stephen A. Fuchs of Littler Mendelson, P.C., the largest global employment and labor law practice. According to Fuchs, “Employers with a consolidated hiring process used in multiple jurisdictions in particular should carefully review the final regulations to ensure that their process does not constitute a per se violation of the FCA.”

Below is a list of the topics covered in-depth in the summary:

• Clarification on Per Se Violations
• Employers Cannot Consider Non-Convictions
• Pending Criminal Charges Cannot be Considered Prior to a Conditional Offer
• Guidance Regarding Inadvertent or Unsolicited Disclosure of Criminal History Prior to Conditional Offer
• Additional Steps Must be Taken Before Withdrawing a Conditional Offer
• Provisions Relating to Temporary Help Firms
• Rebuttable Presumption That a Conditional Offer Was Withdrawn Because of Criminal History
• Enforcement Initiatives
• Compliance Recommendations for Employers

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