New York Business Law: An End to Discrimination?

chrysler-buildingThe New York City Council just passed a law forbidding private sector employers from asking job applicants if they have been convicted of a crime via the Fair Chance Act. While this has been supported by the Mayor, businesses are less than enthusiastic. The Partnership for New York said the bill favors “ideology over practicality.”

Meanwhile, the New York job market is actually thriving. According to numbers from the State Department of Labor, the state increased its private sector jobs by 126,200 from April 2014 to April 2015. It hasn’t affected the overall unemployment rate, during the same time frame which is at its lowest since 2008.

Still, the question is, who in New York is actually taking these jobs, and, perhaps more worryingly, who is not getting the jobs? Is this to do with discrimination?   Really one could argue that the additional jobs in the New York state area are more connected to a stabilizing economy as opposed to fairer equal opportunities.

There again if one is looking for a job, there might still be a vacancy left by Foster Huntington who quit his job in New York in the fashion industry to go live in a childhood fantasy-tree house, on land his real estate parents had bought years ago.

And for those who are really prepared to work and don’t mind what they do, perhaps they should look into a job in the fast food industry, where the number of workers increased 87% between 2010 and 2014.

There’s always work to be had, if someone wants it bad enough. It’s unclear if this law is necessary.