Senate Bill S5297

                                 
BILL NUMBER: S5297

SPONSOR: SEPULVEDA
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the executive law, in relation to requiring employers to
make a conditional offer of employment before inquiring about any crimi-
nal convictions of a prospective employee

 
PURPOSE:

This bill will curtail unlawful discriminatory practices against persons
with criminal records and help to ensure that employers abide by the
provisions of Article 23-A of the correction law.

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section 1 of the bill amends Section 296 of the Executive Law by adding
a new subdivision 15-a to provide that no employer may ask about a crim-
inal conviction unless such employer first makes a conditional offer of
employment. Such offer could then be withdrawn in accordance with Arti-
cle 23A of the correction law where there is a direct relationship
              

between the employment and the conviction and hiring the person would
threaten public safety or property.

Section 2 of the bill provides that the act shall take effect on the
ninetieth day after it shall have become law.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

Upon return to the community following incarceration, individuals are
expected to find and maintain gainful employment. Finding effective ways
to manage their reentry into the workforce is critical to promoting
public safety and curbing recidivism rates and the high costs of re-in-
carceration. Unfortunately, many employers maintain blanket barriers to
employment based solely on criminal conviction records even when the
conviction may be completely unrelated to the job sought and no threat
to the public or property is present.

Article 23-A of the correction law prohibits discrimination against a
person with a criminal record unless the duties or responsibilities of
the job or license sought are directly related to the conviction. This
bill will help to ensure that employers abide by the standards of Arti-
cle 23A and do-not automatically disqualify applicants based only on a
criminal conviction.

 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

S.4344 of 2023-2024; Referred to Investigations and Government Oper-
ations;

S. 4701 of 2021-22: Referred to Investigations and Government Oper-
ations;

S. 1402 of 2019-20: Referred to Investigations and Government Oper-
ations;

S. 2425a of 2017-18: Referred to Investigations and Government Oper-
ations
 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

Successful re-entry and re-integration of formerly incarcerated individ-
uals will increase state revenues through the inclusion of thousands of
able-bodied, "taxpaying citizens" to the state's workforce; additional
savings to the state will ensure from a reduction in costs associated
with recidivism, re-incarceration and social services.

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act will take effect on the ninetieth day after it shall have
become law.