S 1220: Establishes it shall be an unlawful discriminatory practice for any prospective employer to make an inquiry about, or to act upon adversely to the individual involved based upon, any criminal conviction of such individual unless such employer first makes a conditional offer of employment to such individual.

  
  STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 1220 2025-2026 Regular Sessions  IN SENATE January 8, 2025 ___________ Introduced by Sen. BAILEY -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Crime Victims, Crime and Correction AN ACT to amend the correction law and the executive law, in relation to establishing that it is an unlawful discriminatory practice for prospective employers to make certain inquiries relating to criminal convictions The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Subdivision 3 of section 750 of the correction law, as 2 amended by chapter 284 of the laws of 2007, is amended to read as 3 follows: 4 (3) "Direct relationship" means that there is an immediate and 5 substantial connection between the nature of [criminal conduct] the 6 crime for which the person was convicted [has a direct bearing on his 7 fitness or ability to perform one or more of] and the duties or respon- 8 sibilities necessarily related to the license, opportunity, or job in 9 question and such connection would create an unreasonable risk to prop- 10 erty or to the safety or welfare of specific individuals or the general 11 public upon the issuance or continuation of a license or the granting or 12 continuation of employment of such person. 13 § 2. Section 752 of the correction law, as amended by chapter 284 of 14 the laws of 2007, is amended to read as follows: 15 § 752. Unfair discrimination against persons previously convicted of 16 one or more criminal offenses prohibited. 1. No application for any 17 license or employment, and no employment or license held by an individ- 18 ual, to which the provisions of this article are applicable, shall be 19 denied or acted upon adversely by reason of the individual's having been 20 previously convicted of one or more criminal offenses, or by reason of a 21 finding of lack of "good moral character" when such finding is based EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law to be omitted. LBD03226-01-5 
 S. 1220 2 1 upon the fact that the individual has previously been convicted of one 2 or more criminal offenses, unless[: 3 (1)] there is a direct relationship, as defined in subdivision three 4 of section seven hundred fifty of this article, between one or more of 5 the previous criminal offenses and the specific license or employment 6 sought or held by the individual[; or 7 (2) the issuance or continuation of the license or the granting or 8 continuation of the employment would involve an unreasonable risk to 9 property or to the safety or welfare of specific individuals or the 10 general public]. 11 2. No public or private employer to which the provisions of this 12 article are applicable, unless specifically required or permitted by 13 statute, shall make any inquiry about, whether in any form of applica- 14 tion or otherwise, or act upon adversely to the individual involved 15 based upon, any criminal conviction of such individual unless such 16 employer first makes a conditional offer of employment to such individ- 17 ual. Such conditional offer of employment may only subsequently be with- 18 drawn on the basis of a criminal conviction in accordance with this 19 article where such conviction bears a direct relationship to the specif- 20 ic position being offered. 21 § 3. Section 296 of the executive law is amended by adding a new 22 subdivision 15-a to read as follows: 23 15-a. It shall be an unlawful discriminatory practice, unless specif- 24 ically required or permitted by statute, for any prospective employer, 25 including any person, agency, bureau, corporation or association, 26 including the state and any political subdivision thereof, to make any 27 inquiry about, whether in any form of application or otherwise, or to 28 act upon adversely to the individual involved based upon, any criminal 29 conviction of such individual unless such employer first makes a condi- 30 tional offer of employment to such individual. Such conditional offer of 31 employment may only subsequently be withdrawn on the basis of a criminal 32 conviction in accordance with article twenty-three-A of the correction 33 law where such conviction bears a direct relationship, as such term is 34 defined in subdivision three of section seven hundred fifty of the 35 correction law, to the specific position being offered. 36 § 4. This act shall take effect on the ninetieth day after it shall 37 have become a law.