NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A2645
SPONSOR: Skartados TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the general business law, in relation to limiting an
employer's access to consumer credit reports in connection with employ-
ment applications
PURPOSE:
No employer shall request a consumer credit report or a consumer report,
other than an investigative consumer report, in connection with an
application for employment unless the position for which the application
is applying or interviewing entails direct access to funds or negotiable
instruments or directly involves financial oversight or responsibility,
or is otherwise required by law.
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Amends Section 380-b and 380-d of the general business law.
JUSTIFICATION:
Intent of the law to limit an employer's access to certain consumer
credit reports in connection with employment, so that those persons
whose credit has been negatively affected by the current economic
climate may be eligible for jobs. This change to the law will exclude
those jobs that involve access to funds or negotiable instruments or
directly involves financial oversight or responsibility.
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
A10433 of 2010- referred to consumer affairs and protection;
A.9772 of 2012- referred to consumer affairs and protection.
A.1799 - 01/09/13 referred to consumer affairs and protection.
01/08/14 referred to consumer affairs and protection.
01/06/16: A.338 Referred to Consumer Affairs and Protection
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
None.
EFFECTIVE DATE:
Shall take effect immediately.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
2645
2017-2018 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
January 20, 2017
___________
Introduced by M. of A. SKARTADOS -- read once and referred to the
Committee on Consumer Affairs and Protection
AN ACT to amend the general business law, in relation to limiting an
employer's access to consumer credit reports in connection with
employment applications
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Paragraph 3 of subdivision (a) of section 380-b of the
2 general business law, as amended by chapter 797 of the laws of 1984, is
3 amended to read as follows:
4 (3) To a person whom it has reason to believe intends to use the
5 information (i) in connection with a credit transaction involving the
6 consumer on whom the information is to be furnished and involving the
7 extension of credit to, or review or collection of an account of, the
8 consumer, or (ii) for employment purposes in accordance with the
9 provisions of subdivision (e) of this section, or (iii) in connection
10 with the underwriting of insurance involving the consumer, or (iv) in
11 connection with a determination of the consumer's eligibility for a
12 license or other benefit granted by a governmental instrumentality
13 required by law to consider an applicant's financial responsibility or
14 status, or (v) to a person in connection with a business transaction
15 involving the consumer where the user has a legitimate business need for
16 such information, or (vi) in connection with the rental or lease of a
17 residence.
18 § 2. Section 380-b of the general business law is amended by adding a
19 new subdivision (e) to read as follows:
20 (e) No person shall request a consumer credit report or a consumer
21 report, other than an investigative consumer report, in connection with
22 an application for employment unless the position for which the appli-
23 cant is applying or interviewing entails direct access to funds or nego-
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD01529-01-7
A. 2645 2
1 tiable instruments or directly involves financial oversight or responsi-
2 bility, or is otherwise required by law.
3 § 3. Subdivision (d) of section 380-c of the general business law, as
4 added by chapter 867 of the laws of 1977, is amended to read as follows:
5 (d) If a person applying for credit, insurance, or employment refuses
6 to authorize the procurement or preparation of an investigative consumer
7 report, the prospective creditor, insurer or employer may decline to
8 grant credit, insurance or employment on the grounds that the applicant
9 refused to execute such authorization; provided that an employer may not
10 decline to offer employment on the grounds that a prospective employee
11 refuses to authorize the procurement or preparation of a consumer credit
12 report or consumer report to which the employer is not entitled pursuant
13 to subdivision (e) of section three hundred eighty-b of this article.
14 § 4. This act shall take effect immediately.
