Bay Ridge

NYC council says credit check ban will help end job discrimination

April 27, 2015 By Paula Katinas Brooklyn Daily Eagle
Councilmember Vincent Gentile said he was an early supporter of the bill to prevent employers from checking a prospective worker’s credit history. Photo courtesy Gentile’s office
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If you’re applying for a job and your prospective employer demands to see your credit history, that employer could be violating New York City law.

The City Council passed legislation aimed at outlawing the common practice of employers getting a look at the credit history of job applicants, a bill that council members said is aimed at ending discrimination in the job market. Councilmember Brad Lander (D-Park Slope) sponsored the bill, which the council passed on April 16.

“Credit checks for employment unfairly lock New Yorkers out of jobs,” Lander said in a statement. “So I’m proud that the council is passing the strongest bill of its kind to end discriminatory employment credit checks. Just this week, we heard from a recently laid-off single mom, worried about finding a new job because of her daughter’s college loans on her credit report. She wrote that this law gives her ‘a new lease on life.’”

Employers often unfairly use a job applicant’s credit history as a factor in deciding whether to give the applicant the job,  according to Councilmember Vincent Gentile (D-Bay Ridge-Dyker Heights-Bensonhurst), who was among the lawmakers voting in favor of  the “Stop Credit Discrimination in Employment Act.”

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Gentile, chairman of the Oversight and Investigations Committee, said the city is still facing a jobs crisis and that residents shouldn’t face added obstacles to employment.

“We aren’t out of the woods just yet. Therefore, we cannot afford to let these barriers to employment continue to slow down economic growth. The ‘Stop Credit Discrimination in Employment Act’ will help New Yorkers gain access to jobs by ending unnecessary and discriminatory hiring practices,” Gentile said.

The use of credit reports in hiring practices has become a common occurrence, according to council members, who said that more than 50 percent of employers nationwide using the credit histories of some job applicants to inform their hiring decisions.

But the practice bars potentially-qualified New Yorkers from needed jobs and also creates a Catch-22 when individuals are unable to pay their bills due to unemployment and yet they are unable to find a job because of their poor credit due to their unemployment, Gentile said.  

In some cases, low credit scores are the result of uncontrollable events, and are no fault of an individual, Gentile said, pointing to emergency medical expenses, divorce, a death in the family, identity theft or the unexpected loss of a job as factors that can contribute to low credit scores.

Recent college graduates who have been unable to find employment are also at risk of poor credit related to their student loans, lawmakers said.  

“Credit reports were not designed as a screening tool for employment. Rather, they were developed as a way for lenders to evaluate whether a potential borrower would be a good credit risk. Therefore, it doesn’t make sense to say that someone is not a good candidate for a new job because they are still dealing with the expense of a student loan, identify theft or a costly family medical emergency from years back,” Gentile said.

“All New Yorkers deserve the chance to compete for a job based on their skills and qualifications, not three digits on a financial report,” Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito said. “Just because you’ve struggled with medical bills or student loans does not make you any less hard working, qualified, or trustworthy than anyone else. There is no place for discrimination in New York City.”

If it is signed into law by Mayor Bill de Blasio, the “Stop Credit Discrimination in Employment Act” will make the use of credit checks for hiring decisions illegal in New York City.

 


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