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City Council Weighs Banning Credit Checks On Job Applicants
By
Lauren Evans
Published Jan 16, 2015
Modified Jan 16, 2015
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By
Lauren Evans
Published Jan 16, 2015
Modified Jan 16, 2015
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The city council is moving toward abolishing the pernicious practice of allowing employers to run credit checks on prospective hires.
Forty-one of 51 members have already signed onto the bill, the Times reports, on the basis that allowing such checks disproportionately harms Hispanic and black job-seekers, who are already targeted for predatory loans that wreak havoc on credit histories.
Requiring good credit to be considered for employment presents an obvious Catch-22, Stuart Appelbaum, president of the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union told the paper. “People want to pay off loans, but because of their troubles, they can’t even get a job.”
According to data collected by Councilman Brad Lander, one of the bill's sponsors, credit scores have not been found to have any connection to job performance. Moreover, bad credit is often the result not of irresponsible spending habits, but medical bills, identity theft and the incredible financial burden that is college.
Several other states that have banned credit checks do stipulate some exceptions, such as employees with expense accounts, corporate credit cards and with access to firewall-protected computer networks.
Similar legislation was proposed in 2013, but failed to garner adequate support from the council.
Tagged
credit checks
finances
hiring
Lauren Evans
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