INDUSTRY NEWS
NYC publishes interpretative enforcement guide concerning recent ban on applicant credit checks; includes stipulation for exemption of FINRA members
The New York City Commission on Human Rights released the document concerning the Stop Credit Discrimination in Employment Act (“SCDEA”), which went into effect on September 3.
According the document, the SCDEA, which amends the New York City Human Rights Law, “is intended to stop employers from using consumer credit history when making employment decisions—a practice that has a disproportionately negative effect on unemployed people, low income communities, communities of color, women, domestic violence survivors, families with children, divorced individuals, and those with student loans and/or medical bills.”
According the City Council, the law was created with the intention of being “the strongest bill of its type in the country prohibiting discriminatory employment credit checks.”
Notably, the interpretative guidance provides that FINRA members are exempt from the SCDEA when making employment decisions about people who are required to register with FINRA. However, FINRA members must continue to comply with the SCDEA when making employment decisions regarding people who are not required to register with FINRA.
The full text of the interpretative enforcement guide can be found here.
Source: NYC Commission on Human Rights, 9/3/2015