A City Council meeting this morning will hear testimony from the Mayor’s office among others on a bill, introduced in April, that would ban employer checks on prospective employees. Mayor de Blasio’s representatives have expressed support for the bill, which will by heard by City Council’s Committee on Civil Rights.
Councilman Brad Lander of the Progressive Caucus told Crain’s why he supports the bill:
“What I have found, as I’ve dug into the exemptions in other states, they really in many cases don’t reflect any evidence base that suggests credit histories are needed for the particular categories that people have testified in relation to,” Mr. Lander said. “I think there is a prejudice that people have about debt. But there are no studies that show a correlation between credit history and job performance, between credit history and propensity to commit theft and fraud. None.”
Progressive Caucus co-chair Antonio Reynoso, one of the forty co-sponsors of the bill, added this to the Observer:
“A person’s character and work performance is not reflected in their credit history. If my own credit report had been taken into account I would not have had the opportunities I have been afforded in civil service,” Councilman Antonio Reynoso, a co-chair of the caucus, said in a statement. “I am grateful to have been evaluated on more substantial measures like experience and leadership in my community. All potential employees deserve this benefit.”
The meeting will take place at 10am this morning. (Photo: Wikipedia)
