New York-Newark-Jersey City Metropolitan Area

The New York-Newark-Jersey City metropolitan area has many names. Most commonly, it is simply referred to as the New York metro. In other cases, it is called the Tri-State Area. This name comes from the fact that the state of New York, including New Jersey and Connecticut, forms part of this group. Some definitions incorporate parts of Pennsylvania. According to the US Census Bureau, the Tri-State Area comprises 27 counties across four states. It is one of the most populous metros in the United States.

This central metro area includes some of the biggest cities in these states, such as the boroughs of New York City, Newark, and Jersey City. Other notable cities include New Haven, Bridgeport, and Stamford. Employers hiring in the New York metropolitan area face a complex environment with many competing demands. Successful hiring in these areas requires a broad point of view rather than a narrow focus. Many job opportunities in the city, and Wall Street, in particular, attract countless employees.

Considerations for Screening in Metro Areas

It is more common for people to move from county to county in metropolitan areas. An individual may live in one county and commute to work in another, passing through one or more other counties along the way. For example, someone on Staten Island may commute to Queens County. Especially in the Tri-State area, residents may even work in a state other than where they live. In such an expansive metropolitan statistical area, it’s safer to check broader areas.

In typical background screening processes, an employer often checks county court records in the places where an applicant lived before. In metro areas, that practice may not provide broad enough coverage. Individuals may have criminal records in adjacent counties, even where they never lived permanently. Combining an address history search and targeted county checks with a search of neighboring county records is better.

At backgroundchecks.com, we encourage employers in metro areas to consider this broader search to develop a clearer picture of an applicant’s background. However, metro areas also pose broader compliance challenges. Let’s review the restrictions employers should note about the New York metropolitan area.

Background Check Rules and Restrictions in New York City

Many of the core counties in the New York metro area are a part of New York City. Employers in the city are subject to its extensive fair chance and ban the box rules. Violating these laws can lead to expensive fines and other problems. Compliance is vital in this area.

New York City most recently amended its Fair Chance Act in 2021. At that time, the city made extensive changes to its rules about the screening process. There is now a bifurcated path employers must abide by. Before making a conditional job offer, employers can conduct non-criminal screenings, including verifying education or past employment. You can only order a background check once you’ve made a conditional job offer.

All applicants must undergo an individual assessment. The Fair Chance Act also requires you to evaluate criminal records using more than half a dozen criteria. These include determining if the crime relates directly to the job and other factors, such as the age of the crime. Before revoking any job offers in the main NYC metropolitan area, you must consider these factors.

Other Ban the Box Laws in the New York Metro Area

Employers in counties outside New York City itself may still face additional regulations on using background checks for employment. For example, New Jersey also has its own version of a ban the box state law. This rule applies to all private employers in the state and those in the New Jersey metropolitan area. Ban the box means you cannot include tick boxes for questions about criminal history on a job application. You may not conduct online record searches during the initial hiring and interview period. You must first conduct a job interview with the individual.

Connecticut also has a statewide law that bans the box for private and public employers. The prohibition only applies to questions on the job application. The state does not otherwise restrict when employers may order background checks.

Finding the Records You Need to Consider

Building compliant procedures will help you obtain the information necessary to fully consider an applicant’s suitability. At backgroundchecks.com, we provide several products and services to support your goals. These include county and state searches and packages tailored to metro areas for streamlining your ordering process. Our instant criminal history database is at your service, too. With a compilation of more than 650 million nationwide records, you can rapidly find information on applicants no matter where in the Tri-State Area they live. Discover more and get started today.