Relates to prohibiting the use of credit history checks to ascertain the payment status of a student loan of an applicant for employment for the purposes of making hiring decisions except where otherwise mandated by law.
NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A2956
SPONSOR: Joyner TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the labor law, in relation to prohibiting student loan
payment history checks in making employment decisions
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:
Makes it an unlawful discriminatory practice for an employer to request
or to use the student loan payment history of an applicant for employ-
ment in determining hiring decisions. This legislation makes an excep-
tion for those cases in which the use of a credit history check is
otherwise mandated by law.
SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS:
The labor law is amended by adding a new section 219-d entitled Student
Loan Payment History; Employment that provides that it shall be an
unlawful discriminatory practice for an employer to request or to use
for employment purposes information contained in the consumer credit
history indicating the payment status of a student loan of an applicant
for employment or otherwise discriminate against such an applicant with
regard to hiring decisions.
Section 2 defines the term "consumer credit history" to include any
information bearing on an individual's credit history worthiness, credit
standing, or credit capacity, including but not limited to an individ-
ual's credit score, credit account and other consumer account balances,
and payment history.
Section 3 exempts employers, or agents thereof, who are required by
state or federal law or regulation or by a self-regulatory organization
from coverage by this law.
JUSTIFICATION:
With student loan debt well in excess of $1.2 trillion nationwide and
climbing, according to the Consumer Financial Protection Board, the
burden posed by this burgeoning debt is making it increasingly difficult
for college graduates and attendees to meet their financial obligations
in a timely manner. The severity of the debt burden has had a growing
impact on college graduates with the Project on Student Debt reporting
that in 2013 nearly seven in ten college graduates of public and private
non-profit colleges had student loans of an average amount of $28,400 a
two percent increase from prior year levels.
With employers increasingly using credit histories in determining which
applicants to hire, ten states and the City of Chicago have already
enacted laws that limit the use of credit checks by employers making
hiring decisions and the New York City Council is considering broadly
written legislation on this matter. (NY Times 1/16/15) With a focused
approach, this legislation recognizes the importance of ensuring that
college graduates and attendees who borrow money to invest in improving
their skill sets are not penalized in the job market due to their
inability to maintain timely payments on their outstanding student loan
debt.
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
2016 - Referred to Labor
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
None.
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
2956
2017-2018 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
January 23, 2017
___________
Introduced by M. of A. JOYNER, COOK, GOTTFRIED, GUNTHER, LAVINE, SIMON
-- read once and referred to the Committee on Labor
AN ACT to amend the labor law, in relation to prohibiting student loan
payment history checks in making employment decisions
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. The labor law is amended by adding a new section 219-d to
2 read as follows:
3 § 219-d. Student loan payment history; employment. 1. Except as
4 provided in this section and in those cases otherwise mandated by law,
5 it shall be an unlawful discriminatory practice for an employer to
6 request or to use for employment purposes information contained in the
7 consumer credit history indicating the payment status of a student loan,
8 as defined in subdivision fourteen of section sixteen hundred seventy-
9 six of the public authorities law, of an applicant for employment or
10 otherwise discriminate against such applicant with regard to hiring
11 decisions.
12 2. For the purposes of this section, the term "consumer credit histo-
13 ry" shall mean any information bearing on an individual's credit worthi-
14 ness, credit standing, or credit capacity, including, but not limited
15 to, an individual's credit score, credit account and other consumer
16 account balances, and payment history.
17 3. This section shall not apply to an employer, or agent thereof, that
18 is required by state of federal law or regulations or by a self-regula-
19 tory organization, as defined in paragraph twenty-six of subdivision (a)
20 of section three of the securities exchange act of 1934, as amended, to
21 use an individual's consumer credit history for employment purposes.
22 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD06716-01-7
