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August 13, 2014 – College students and members of the NYC Coalition to Stop Credit Checks in Employment gathered today outside Brooklyn College to call on the NYC Council to ban employment credit checks, which constitute an unfair barrier to jobs for students saddled with student loan debt, among others. “There is an immediate need for a ban on employment credit checks,” said Zarlish Hafeez, a Brooklyn College student and NYPIRG intern. “The Stop Credit Discrimination in Employment Act is a critical piece of legislation that will ensure success for the future of students—who are the future of this city.” |
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The students urged the NYC Council to pass Intro. 261, the Stop Credit Discrimination in Employment Act, which would prohibit the use of credit history for hiring and other employment-related purposes, throughout the five boroughs. Members of the Brooklyn delegation of the NYC Council joined the press conference to express their support for swift passage of the bill.
“Employers should not deny people jobs based on their credit history,” said Council member Brad Lander. “Whether from catastrophic medical expenses, death of a spouse, or predatory lending, many New Yorkers have poor credit through little or no fault of their own. Recent graduates with spiraling student debt need an equal chance to get a job, if they are ever going to pay it off. This bill is a step forward for fairness, and for common sense.”
Intro. 261 has overwhelming support in the City Council, with 39 sponsors. In addition, Mayor de Blasio has indicated support for a ban on employment credit checks. During his mayoral campaign, he said, “I agree entirely with the efforts to ban the practice of [credit] checks being used in any kind of employment or hiring practice,” and his campaign website called employment credit checks a “needless roadblock to economic opportunity.”
Speakers underscored the national credit reporting industry’s role in driving employment credit checks to expand markets and boost profits. “The credit reporting agencies are a powerful industry that has carved out a new profit niche by marketing and selling people’s credit reports to employers,” said Joby Thoyalil, Campaigns Organizer at New Economy Project. “This is despite the fact that TransUnion, one of the nation’s largest credit bureaus, admitted that there is no demonstrated link between someone’s credit report and their job performance or their likelihood to commit fraud.”
“Like all New Yorkers, college students deserve equality in hiring,” said Council member Stephen Levin. “Credit checks used by employers are unfair and prevent students and graduates from getting employment that their livelihood depends on. I want to thank NYPIRG, New Economy Project, and all of the members of the NYC Coalition to Stop Credit Checks in Employment for their advocacy and join them in their efforts to help all students and graduates.”
“It’s disgraceful to think that students in New York could be excluded from the very jobs they’re studying to qualify for just because they face difficulties keeping up with student loans and other bills,” said Amy Traub, Senior Policy Analyst at Dēmos. “It’s time for New York City to stop employers from judging job applicants based on their personal credit information and get rid of this barrier to employment once and for all.”
Using a large map of city council districts, students and coalition members staged a “call-in” to Council Members, and encouraged their fellow students to join them by calling their council members to urge swift passage of Intro. 261.
