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Adverse Action Timeline Calculator

Enter the day your pre-adverse notice goes out and get the earliest day the final adverse action notice may follow, step by step. Federal law sets no fixed wait, so you choose the practice wait; for California and New York City the tool applies the local response window when it runs longer. Part of the Adverse action & fair chance tools.

Use the tool

YYYY-MM-DD or MM/DD/YYYY.

Jurisdiction

California Fair Chance Act: 5 business days from receipt, 5 more if disputing

How the notice goes out

Counted as received the same day; California deems it received 2 business days later

Practice, not law: the FCRA sets no number of days. Five is the common choice (FTC staff letter, 1997).

Earliest date to send the final adverse action notice

November 30, 2026

Cal. Code Regs. tit. 2, § 11017.1(c)(2)(E)

Governing wait: California: 5 business days from receipt (law).

  1. Send the pre-adverse notice

    Tue, Nov 17, 2026

    A copy of the report, A Summary of Your Rights Under the FCRA, and California's written notice of preliminary decision with the response deadline.

    15 U.S.C. § 1681b(b)(3)(A); Cal. Code Regs. tit. 2, § 11017.1(c)(2)

  2. The applicant receives it

    Thu, Nov 19, 2026

    Email: deemed received two business days after it is sent.

    Cal. Code Regs. tit. 2, § 11017.1(c)(2)(E)(iii)

  3. Wait

    Fri, Nov 20, 2026 to Fri, Nov 27, 2026

    Federal practice wait: 5 business days, ends Fri, Nov 27, 2026.

    California response window: 5 business days, ends Fri, Nov 27, 2026.

    Federal holidays skipped: Thanksgiving Day (Thu, Nov 26, 2026).

    Cal. Code Regs. tit. 2, § 11017.1(c)(2)(E)

  4. Send the final adverse action notice

    Mon, Nov 30, 2026 at the earliest

    The first business day after the wait. Name the screening firm and how to reach it, say it did not make the decision, and give the right to a free copy within 60 days and to dispute.

    California adds: the final decision, any way to challenge it, and the right to file a complaint with the Civil Rights Department.

    15 U.S.C. § 1681m(a); Cal. Code Regs. tit. 2, § 11017.1(c)(4)

Coloured pencil drawing of a sealed envelope beside a blank wall calendar and a blue pen
A sealed envelope waits beside a blank calendar.

What it computes

Before you act on a background check, the FCRA makes you send a pre-adverse notice: a copy of the report and A Summary of Your Rights Under the FCRA. Then you wait, and only then do you send the final notice. The statute does not say how long to wait. FTC staff wrote that “some reasonable period of time must elapse, but the minimum length will vary depending on the particular circumstances involved.” In a 1997 staff letter the FTC said a five business day period “appears reasonable.” That is why five business days is the common choice, and why the tool calls it practice, not law.

The tool starts from the day the applicant receives the notice. It counts the wait in business days after that day (the day of receipt is not counted), then gives the first business day after the wait as the earliest date for the final notice. Business days are Monday to Friday. With the holiday box ticked it also skips federal holidays from OPM’s 2026, 2027 and 2028 schedules. It does not know state holidays or the days your office was closed, so add a day for each one.

In the fair chance modes the tool runs two clocks: your federal practice wait and the local response window. It takes whichever ends later. The 1997 letter counted five days “from the date of the notice”; counting from receipt, as the tool does, is never earlier. The guide to both notices covers what goes in each letter, and the letter generator drafts them.

The rule
The tool applies the federal rule and the California and NYC windows as written in their sources; other state or city law may add steps. It is a planning aid, not legal advice.

15 U.S.C. § 1681b(b)(3)(A); Cal. Code Regs. tit. 2, § 11017.1(c)(2)(E); NYC Admin. Code § 8-107(11-a)

Deadline
Two letters, not one. FTC staff said the pre-adverse and final notices “may not be included in the same document,” because one goes before the decision and the other after it.

15 U.S.C. §§ 1681b(b)(3), 1681m(a); FTC staff report, July 2011

Worked example

A California employer emails a California applicant the pre-adverse notice and its notice of preliminary decision on Tuesday, November 17, 2026. California treats an email as received two business days later, on Thursday, November 19. Five business days from then are November 20, 23, 24, 25 and 27, because Thanksgiving (November 26) is skipped. The window closes Friday, November 27, so the final notice can go out on Monday, November 30. The employer’s own five-day federal practice wait ends the same Friday, so the two clocks agree.

CaseSentReceivedWait endsFinal notice from
California, email (the pre-filled example)Tue, Nov 17, 2026Thu, Nov 19, 2026Fri, Nov 27, 2026Mon, Nov 30, 2026
California, email, applicant disputingTue, Nov 17, 2026Thu, Nov 19, 2026Fri, Dec 4, 2026Mon, Dec 7, 2026
Federal only, mailed Saturday, no trackingSat, Dec 19, 2026Thu, Dec 24, 2026Mon, Jan 4, 2027Tue, Jan 5, 2027
NYC, tracked mail, 7-day practice waitMon, Jun 29, 2026Wed, Jul 1, 2026Mon, Jul 13, 2026Tue, Jul 14, 2026
Computed by this tool with federal holidays skipped. Received = the delivery or deemed-receipt date the tool uses.

State notes

  • Federal
  • CA
  • NYC

Federal (FCRA)

No number of days is set. If the applicant disputes the report, federal law adds no fixed hold for the employer, but the screening firm generally has 30 days to reinvestigate, up to 15 more if the applicant sends new information during that time. Weigh what the applicant sends before you decide. The FCRA sequence for employers shows where the wait sits among the other steps.

15 U.S.C. § 1681b(b)(3)(A); 15 U.S.C. § 1681i(a)(1)

California Fair Chance Act

The law generally covers employers with five or more employees, and it applies when the decision rests on conviction history. After an individualized assessment, the written preliminary decision gives the applicant at least five business days from receipt to respond, and at least five more if they dispute the record in writing and are getting evidence. Mail without tracking is deemed received 5 calendar days after mailing to a California address, 10 elsewhere in the US and 20 abroad; email two business days after it is sent.

The final notice states the decision, any way to challenge it, and the right to file a complaint with the Civil Rights Department. If the report finding is not about convictions, only the federal practice wait applies. The California Fair Chance Act guide walks through each notice.

Cal. Gov. Code § 12952; Cal. Code Regs. tit. 2, § 11017.1(c)(2)(E)–(F); Cal. Code Regs. tit. 2, § 11017.1(c)(4)

New York City Fair Chance Act

The Commission’s guidance applies to employers with four or more employees. Before withdrawing an offer, give the applicant a copy of the background check and the Fair Chance Notice, then allow “a reasonable period of at least five business days” to respond, counted from when they receive both. Keep the job open for that time. Email counts only if you and the applicant agreed to it in advance, so confirm receipt.

If the applicant shows the report is wrong, redo the analysis on the corrected report; if you still intend to act, a new window of at least five business days starts when they receive the corrected copy and analysis. More in the NYC Fair Chance Act guide.

NYC Admin. Code § 8-107(11-a); NYC Commission on Human Rights legal guidance

Other states and cities

Many states and cities have their own fair chance rules, some with their own notice steps. This tool dates only the federal, California and NYC steps. Check the ban the box laws by state and city before you rely on the federal mode for a hire elsewhere.

See the state-by-state guide for each source

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