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The city’s business and labor leaders are at odds again, this time over the City Council’s latest effort to meddle in the private sector by telling companies how to hire new workers.
A council bill would bar employers from using credit checks as hiring criteria or in making any other employment decisions — a practice that lawmakers backing the measure say is unjust.
Under the bill, any company found in violation would be forced to hire the applicant, pay a fine of up to $50,000 and be on the hook for compensatory damages.
“I think the City Council does not understand the cumulative cost, particularly to small business, of their many efforts to make their mark,” said Kathy Wylde, president of the business group Partnership for New York City.
Mayor Bloomberg is also against the measure, and Council Speaker Christine Quinn is undecided.
Bill Heinzen, a Bloomberg-administration attorney, testified against the measure at a council hearing yesterday.
Prior to the hearing, several unions rallied in favor of the measure that comes on the heels of a living-wage effort and a push for mandatory sick leave for firms with five or more workers.
The no-credit-check proposal “is over-broad and fails to take into account the many reasons why a person’s credit history may be relevant to their fitness for a job,” Heinzen said. “It would impair the city’s ability to perform background checks to insure the integrity and responsibility of its own workforce.”
Councilman Brad Lander (D-Brooklyn), who sponsored the bill, called it “a simple issue of fairness.”
“Hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers face discrimination, being denied a job or a promotion because of their credit history and it’s just not right,” Lander said.
“We believe that as many as 60 percent of employers are using credit histories to screen job applicants, despite the fact that there is no evidence of any correlation between your credit history and your work as an employee and your ability to be a good employee,” he added.
Lander said medical crises and divorce are just two examples why prospective or current employees might get into heavy debt.
Heinzen said the legislation should exempt instances when a credit check is relevant to employment, such as jobs in law enforcement, investigative agencies, banking and finance institutions and credit unions.
He also said it should allow for exceptions for prospective employees who would use a company credit or debit card.
The regulation would allow for instances when state and federal law require credit checks.
Additional reporting by David Seifman