S 5297: Relates to unlawful discriminatory practices; requires employers to make a conditional offer of employment before inquiring about any criminal convictions of a prospective employee.
What S 5297 does, verified January 8, 2026
The bill aims to prevent employers from inquiring about a prospective employee's criminal convictions before making a conditional offer of employment. This means employers can only ask about convictions if they have already made an offer of employment. The bill also allows employers to withdraw the offer based on a criminal conviction only if the conviction has a direct relationship to the specific job being offered or if it poses an unreasonable risk to property or public safety. The bill takes effect 90 days after it becomes a law.
Bill journey
1IntroducedCurrent
2In CommitteePending
3First Chamber FloorPending
4Second ChamberPending
5GovernorPending
6ChapteredPending
Last action: REFERRED TO INVESTIGATIONS AND GOVERNMENT OPERATIONS (2026-01-07)Alert me
Quick answers about S 5297
- What is the current status of S 5297?
- As of January 8, 2026, S 5297 is recorded as "Introduced": it has been introduced and is waiting for its first committee hearing or floor vote. The last recorded action, on January 7, 2026, was "REFERRED TO INVESTIGATIONS AND GOVERNMENT OPERATIONS".
- Did S 5297 pass?
- Not yet. S 5297 has been introduced and has not passed either house.
- Who wrote S 5297, and where is it now?
- S 5297 was authored by Sen. Luis Sepúlveda with 1 coauthor. Its committee of record is Senate Investigation & Government Operations. It is filed under EXC, alongside 143 other New York EXC bills this session.
Author and sponsors
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| Jan. 07, 2026 | REFERRED TO INVESTIGATIONS AND GOVERNMENT OPERATIONS |
| Feb. 20, 2025 | REFERRED TO INVESTIGATIONS AND GOVERNMENT OPERATIONS |
Latest bill textIntroduced version, February 20, 2025 · 334 words
STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 5297 2025-2026 Regular Sessions IN SENATE February 20, 2025 ___________ Introduced by Sens. SEPULVEDA, WALCZYK -- read twice and ordered print- ed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Investi- gations and Government Operations AN ACT to amend the executive law, in relation to requiring employers to make a conditional offer of employment before inquiring about any criminal convictions of a prospective employee The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Section 296 of the executive law is amended by adding a new 2 subdivision 15-a to read as follows: 3 15-a. It shall be an unlawful discriminatory practice, unless specif- 4 ically required or permitted by statute, for any prospective employer, 5 including any person, agency, bureau, corporation or association, 6 including the state and any political subdivision thereof, to make an 7 inquiry about, whether in any form of application or otherwise, or to 8 act upon adversely to the individual involved based upon, any criminal 9 conviction of such individual unless such employer first makes a condi- 10 tional offer of employment to such individual. Such conditional offer of 11 employment may only subsequently be withdrawn on the basis of a criminal 12 conviction in accordance with article twenty-three-A of the correction 13 law where such conviction bears a direct relationship, as such term is 14 defined in subdivision three of section seven hundred fifty of the 15 correction law, to the specific position being offered, or the granting 16 of such employment would involve an unreasonable risk to property or to 17 the safety or welfare of specific individuals or the general public. 18 § 2. This act shall take effect on the ninetieth day after it shall 19 have become a law. EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD06494-01-5
Text of S 5297 as introduced, from the official record. Connect Plus keeps every version and highlights what changed.Compare versions