NYC passes law barring businesses from asking if applicant has been convicted of a felony

Advocates for convicted felons claim one of the biggest problems facing felons after prison is finding a good job.  To eliminate this difficulty the corrupt, socialist government of New York City, under mayor deBlasio, passed an "act"--which is what cities call laws they make--called "The Fair Chance Act."

This "act" makes it illegal for most employers in New York City to ask about the criminal record of job applicants until they've offered the applicant a job.  The infamous NY Human Rights Commission says job applications can't include the question "Have you ever been convicted of a felony?"  Similarly, interviewers are barred from asking questions about an applicant's criminal record.

The NYHRC actually claims on their website, "This allows the applicant to be judged on his or her qualifications."

Well of course--if you believe a prior conviction for, oh, murder or drug smuggling or child rape should have no bearing at all on whether someone should be hired for, oh, say, child care.

Let me take a minute to show you how draconian, how Orwellian, the wording of this piece of crap act is.  Recalling that this act bars companies from asking an applicant about prior criminal convictions before offering an applicant a job, the following is from their site:

What does the Fair Chance Act do?
New York City already prohibits its agencies and human services contractors from asking whether a job applicant has been convicted of a crime and from doing a background check until the first job interview. The Fair Chance Act extends this policy [actually "law," with fines if violated, but "policy" sounds less coercive] to all employers, public and private, and requires employers to wait until they offer an applicant a job before asking about the person’s conviction history or doing a background check.

If the employer decides either that the conviction history is directly related to the job or that hiring the applicant would pose a risk to persons or property, the employer must provide a copy of the record and explain the basis for this decision, showing how it has evaluated the applicant using existing New York law that prohibits discrimination based upon criminal record.  Under that law, employers have to consider, among other things:

• The specific duties and responsibilities of the job and the bearing, if any, of the person’s conviction history on his or her fitness or ability to perform them;
• How long ago the offense occurred, how serious it was and the person’s age at the time;
• The person’s evidence of good conduct, achievements and positive life changes; and
• The employer’s "legitimate interest" in protecting property, specific individuals, or the general public.

Once the employer provides this notification to the applicant, the position must be held open for three days to allow the employer and applicant to engage in an interactive discussion, considering the employer’s requirements and the applicant’s evidence of good conduct, achievements and rehabilitation, and so the applicant can contest any inaccuracies on the record.

The Fair Chance Act explicitly prohibits ads that say “background check required” or “no felonies.”  Whether a person has a criminal record should not be mentioned in the hiring process until that person is selected, out of all the other candidates, for a conditional job offer.

Did ya notice that phrase "selected, out of all the other candidates"?  Unless you're familiar with bureaucratese you may not fully see what the Dem pols have done here:  By barring employers from asking about prior felony convictions until they've already offered the applicant a job--the city has made it virtually impossible for a company to risk not hiring someone they only now have discovered to be a felon.  The wording makes it certain that any company that decides NOT to hire a felon is automatically guilty of violating this absurd "act."  This isn't subtle.  So watch how fast the city pols try to show that this ISN'T what they just did--in the very next paragraph:

Do employers have to hire people with criminal records?
No, the FCA does not require employers to hire people with conviction histories, nor does it prevent employers from running background checks.

Can anyone in NYC government read?  This act specifically bars a potential employer from doing a background check until they've already made a job offer--which then forces an employer to fight a huge battle to show they met all the requirements, and to justify why they determined that hiring a convicted rapist or embezzler or bank robber (for example) wouldn't be a good choice.  It's totally disingenuous for the pols to claim that the law doesn't "require" employers to do X, when the truth is that the commission will levy a huge fine if a company does a background check "too early" or fails to hire once they know about a prior felony conviction. 

It simply allows job applicants with conviction histories to compete on their merits rather than having their applications denied or not considered in violation of pre-existing law. 

Wrong.  The "Fair Chance Act" IS the what's being expanded here, making it a crime to ask whether an applicant has been convicted of a felony before offering someone a job, and declaring that once that offer has been made--before the company is permitted to ask about prior felonies--it's prima facie evidence that this applicant was the selected out of all the other candidates as the best one for the job--until the company learned of the felony conviction.  Thus automatically guilty.

It delays questions about conviction history and running background checks until an applicant has had a chance to demonstrate his or her qualifications for the job sought. The FCA does not override local, state or federal laws that prohibit people with job-related convictions from working in secure areas or with vulnerable people.

Are any employers exempt from the Fair Chance Act?
Yes, law enforcement agencies are exempt from the law. Also, the Fair Chance Act does not apply if an employer is prohibited by local, state or federal law from hiring people with certain convictions. The Fair Chance Act only applies when an employer has discretion to hire an applicant with a criminal conviction.

And lest you think this idea is restricted to the morons of NYC government:  Democrat U.S. Rep. Elijah E. Cummings’ (D-Md.) has introduced essentially the same bill in the U.S. congress.  It already has 16 co-sponsors.

Actually I think a law barring employers from asking about prior convictions is a good idea--provided that Democrats and Leftists are willing to obey it themselves--to 'lead by example,' as it were--instead of simply using this as yet another club with which to beat business owners.

So by all means, let's force every level of NYC government to obey the same "act."  Same for public schools.  Let's see how fast the pols scream "Oh, but we didn't mean WE had to obey this act!  We just meant private business had to.  We're exempt because...well, we're special, citizen."