NEW YORK — New rules tightening how employers may consider an applicant’s or employee’s criminal history in hiring and promotion decisions will take effect in the city on Oct. 30, 2026, the New York City Commission on Human Rights announced, concluding more than two years of rulemaking.
What changes for employers and jobseekers
The final amendments update the commission’s regulations to align with Local Law 4 of 2021, which expanded the city’s Fair Chance Act. The revisions codify new timelines and clarify when employers can rely on narrow exceptions to refuse hire or take adverse employment actions on the basis of arrests or convictions.
- Longer response window: Employers now must give at least five business days for an individual to reply to an inquiry about criminal history before revoking an offer or taking other adverse action. That is up from the previous three-business-day period.
- Timing and notice requirements: The response period begins only after an applicant or employee receives both a required Fair Chance Employment Notice and a written copy of the inquiry used to collect criminal-history information.
- Position must be held open: During the response window employers may not permanently fill the role or move forward with a final adverse decision.
- Coverage expanded: The rules explicitly apply to current employees when a conviction or pending case emerges during employment, not just to new applicants.
Why the city acted now
The commission moved to finalize these regulations on Sept. 15, 2026, after a prolonged process that began with proposed rules published in July 2024. Advocates for people with criminal records urged the commission to close gaps they said left too much discretion to employers, while some business groups expressed concern about operational burdens and timing.
“The Fair Chance Act is often described as a ‘ban the box’ law,”
The final rules attempt to strike a balance by spelling out when an employer can assert that a person's conviction has a “direct relationship” to a job or creates an “unreasonable risk” to safety or operations. Employers who rely on those exceptions must be prepared to document and justify them under the rules.
Operational impact for New York employers
For human-resources departments and small-business owners, the most immediate change will be process adjustments. The longer, five-day response period means employers will have to delay final hiring actions, keep positions open and update applicant-tracking workflows to ensure notices and written inquiries are delivered correctly.
| Key date | Action |
|---|---|
| July 2024 | Commission proposed amended rules |
| Sept. 15, 2026 | Commission adopted final rules |
| Oct. 30, 2026 | Final amended rules take effect |
Employment lawyers warn that compliance will require updated written materials — including the Fair Chance Employment Notice — and staff training to avoid procedural missteps that could lead to enforcement actions and fines. Employers who operate across jurisdictions will need to reconcile these city rules with state and federal requirements.
What jobseekers should know
Job applicants and employees with prior arrests or convictions gain clearer protections. The rules reinforce that employers cannot ask about criminal history before issuing a conditional job offer and that any adverse action taken on the basis of criminal records must follow a defined process.
Workers who receive a notice and an inquiry have at least five business days to respond and can expect the employer to hold the role open during that time. The explicit inclusion of current employees closes a key loophole for those whose cases arise after they are hired.
City officials say the changes aim to reduce barriers to employment for people with criminal records while preserving employers’ ability to make safety-based decisions when narrowly justified. For New York’s employers and jobseekers, the next few months will test how those policy goals play out in hiring rooms, HR back offices and, ultimately, workplace outcomes.
Caleb Thorpe is a correspondent in New York for ZTL, covering city policy, labor and the intersections of law and daily life.
