Responding, in part, to a 2007 study that found that New York employees were largely unfamiliar with state laws regulating an employer’s use of previous convictions for employment-related decisions, and in support of the state’s goal to prevent discrimination on the basis of criminal records, the New York Legislature recently amended the state’s general business and labor laws to require employers to disseminate and post notice to job applicants and employees of their rights with respect to, and an employer’s limitations on the use of, information on criminal convictions. The posting and notice requirements take effect February 1, 2009.

Background

Section 296 of the New York Executive Law makes it unlawful for an employer to deny employment to an individual based upon his or her having been convicted previously of a crime, or by reason of a finding of lack of “good moral character” because of his or her prior conviction of a criminal offense, when such a denial is a violation of New York’s Correction Law Article 23-A (Licensure and Employment of Persons Previously Convicted of One or More Criminal Offenses). N.Y. Executive Law § 296.

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