Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Employment Screening Credit Reports topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Assembly approves ban on use of consumer credit reports in hiring decisions with exemptions
Summary
The Assembly passed Senate bill 3072 to bar employers and prospective employers from using consumer credit reports to make hiring and employment decisions, with enumerated statutory exemptions for security, fiduciary, and government roles.
The Assembly on May 28 approved S.3072, a measure that would prohibit employers and prospective employers from using job applicants’ or employees’ consumer credit reports in decisions to hire, fire, promote, demote, discipline or set employment terms, with several statutory exemptions.
Sponsor Dinowitz said the bill addresses inaccuracies in credit reports and the weak correlation between credit history and job performance. He listed exemptions on the floor: positions required by federal or state law to use consumer-credit history (for example certain background checks), roles that require bonding, jobs with access to national-security or intelligence information, positions with fiduciary responsibilities over $10,000, and duties to modify digital security systems.
Questioners pressed on enforceability (how a plaintiff would prove an employer based a decision on a credit report) and whether the Federal Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) suffices. Dinowitz acknowledged enforcement could involve jury fact-finding and argued that FCRA protections are not enough because credit reports can be inaccurate and uncorrelated with job performance.
Several members urged a no vote citing employers’ legitimate business needs; others argued for worker protections. The Assembly recorded Ayes 97, Noes 45; the bill passed.
Votes at a glance: S.3072 — Ayes 97, Noes 45 — Passed.
