New York has enacted the Clean Slate Act legislation that will be effective on November 16, 2024 and will automatically seal certain criminal records that previously would have appeared on an applicant’s background check report.
The Act does not prohibit employers from conducting pre-employment criminal background screenings however employers will have less information on which to base a hiring decision. The conviction records of individuals convicted of certain New York state crimes will be sealed from public access once the individuals have satisfied their sentence including any period of probation or parole and remain law-abiding citizens for a specified amount of time in New York State – three years after conviction or release from jail for a misdemeanor and eight years after conviction or release from prison for a felony.
The new law does not change an employer’s obligation to conduct a job-related analysis prior to taking an adverse action based on criminal convictions, as required by New York’s Article 23-A, including assessing the severity of the crime, the nature of the crime, and whether the offense affects the applicant’s ability to perform the specific job duties.
The law seals certain criminal records but does not expunge them. An employer may still deny employment based on an unsealed criminal conviction record if the employer can establish a direct relationship between one or more of the previous criminal offenses and the specific employment sought or where there is an unreasonable risk to the property or to the safety or welfare of the public. The law is not intended to affect access to permissible information on out-of-state or federal convictions through publicly accessible records.