NYC Fair Chance Act: The Exact Sequence Every Employer Owes the Candidate

The NYC Fair Chance Act is the most prescriptive ban-the-box law in the country. It tells you the exact order of operations, the exact documents the candidate must receive, and the exact number of days the position must remain open while the candidate responds.

The ordered sequence

1. Conditional offer of employment, in writing.
2. Background check requested, with criminal history segregated from non-criminal results.
3. Non-criminal results reviewed first — any rescission of the conditional offer based on non-criminal results must be completed before criminal history is reviewed.
4. Criminal history reviewed against the NYC Fair Chance Factors (the 2017 Article 23-A analysis).
5. If withdrawal is contemplated, the Fair Chance Notice + a copy of the report + the written analysis are delivered to the candidate.
6. The position is held open at least 3 business days from the candidate's receipt of the Fair Chance Notice.
7. Final withdrawal decision, in writing.

The Fair Chance Factors

• The duties and responsibilities of the position sought.
• The bearing, if any, of the conviction on the candidate's fitness or ability to perform the duties.
• The time elapsed since the conviction.
• The age of the candidate at the time of the offense.
• The seriousness of the offense.
• Any evidence of rehabilitation.
• The legitimate interest of the employer in protecting property and the safety and welfare of specific individuals or the general public.
• The public policy of New York to encourage the licensure and employment of people with criminal records.

Where employers most often fail

• Reviewing criminal and non-criminal results together — a single workflow violation that converts an otherwise lawful rescission into a Fair Chance Act claim.
• Counting the 3-business-day hold-open period from the date the notice was mailed, not the date the candidate received it.
• Sending the Fair Chance Notice without the written 23-A analysis attached.

How SafestHires builds this in

The NYC workflow in SafestHires segregates the criminal and non-criminal results in the report viewer itself — the hiring manager cannot see one before resolving the other. The Fair Chance Notice generator pulls the Article 23-A worksheet and the report copy into a single PDF, and the candidate-response window only starts when the system records candidate receipt.