Proposed Bill to Prohibit Use of Credit Reports in Hiring Decisions
On September 16th, Representative Steve Cohen (D-TN) introduced HR 3524, the Equal Employment for All Act. The Senate version, S. 1981, is sponsored by Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and was introduced on August 5th. The bill would “amend the Fair Credit Reporting Act to prohibit the use of consumer credit checks against prospective and current employees for the purposes of making adverse employment decisions.”
According to Cohen, HR 3524 seeks to “protect job seekers from unfair discrimination from employers based on credit ratings that are often inaccurate and bear little to no correlation to job performance or ability to succeed in the workplace.” Specifically, Cohen’s statement asserts that the bill “would protect prospective employees from being forced to disclose their credit history as part of an employer’s application process.”
According to the text of S. 1981, “a person, including a prospective employer or current employer,” may not use a consumer report or procure a consumer report on any consumer during the background screening process that contains information on the consumer’s creditworthiness, credit standing, or credit capacity:
- For employment purposes; or
- For making an adverse action, as listed in the bill.
Cohen Statement:
S. 1981: http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/BILLS-114s1981is/pdf/BILLS-114s1981is.pdf
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