Title: Equal Employment for All Act of 2017
Policy area: Finance and Financial Sector

Summary:
Equal Employment for All Act of  2017
This bill amends the Fair Credit Reporting Act to prohibit an employer from using a consumer report containing credit information for either employment purposes or for making an adverse employment action.
The bill makes exceptions to the prohibition when: (1) the consumer applies for, or currently holds, employment that requires a national security clearance, or (2) a consumer report is otherwise required by law.


[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1819 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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115th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1819

To amend the Fair Credit Reporting Act to prohibit the use of consumer 
    credit checks against prospective and current employees for the 
            purposes of making adverse employment decisions.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           September 14, 2017

    Ms. Warren (for herself, Mr. Leahy, Mr. Wyden, Mr. Durbin, Mr. 
 Menendez, Mr. Sanders, Mr. Brown, Mr. Whitehouse, Mrs. Shaheen, Mrs. 
 Gillibrand, Mr. Franken, Mr. Blumenthal, Mr. Schatz, Ms. Baldwin, Mr. 
 Murphy, Ms. Hirono, Mr. Markey, Ms. Hassan, Mr. Booker, Mr. Merkley, 
and Ms. Harris) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
    referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To amend the Fair Credit Reporting Act to prohibit the use of consumer 
    credit checks against prospective and current employees for the 
            purposes of making adverse employment decisions.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Equal Employment for All Act of 
2017''.

SEC. 2. USE OF CREDIT CHECKS PROHIBITED FOR EMPLOYMENT PURPOSES.

    (a) Prohibition for Employment and Adverse Action.--Section 604 of 
the Fair Credit Reporting Act (15 U.S.C. 1681b) is amended--
            (1) in subsection (a)(3)(B), by inserting ``within the 
        restrictions set forth in subsection (b)'' after ``purposes'';
            (2) by redesignating subsections (b) through (g) as 
        subsections (c) through (h), respectively; and
            (3) by inserting after subsection (a) the following new 
        subsection:
    ``(b) Use of Certain Consumer Report Prohibited for Employment 
Purposes or Adverse Action.--
            ``(1) General prohibition.--Except as provided in paragraph 
        (3), a person, including a prospective employer or current 
        employer, may not use a consumer report or investigative 
        consumer report, or cause a consumer report or investigative 
        consumer report to be procured, with respect to any consumer 
        where any information contained in the report bears on the 
        creditworthiness, credit standing, or credit capacity of the 
        consumer--
                    ``(A) for employment purposes; or
                    ``(B) for making an adverse action, as described in 
                section 603(k)(1)(B)(ii).
            ``(2) Source of consumer report irrelevant.--The 
        prohibition described in paragraph (1) shall apply even if the 
        consumer consents or otherwise authorizes the procurement or 
        use of a consumer report for employment purposes or in 
        connection with an adverse action with respect to the consumer.
            ``(3) Exceptions.--Notwithstanding the prohibitions set 
        forth in this subsection, and consistent with the other 
        sections of this Act, an employer may use a consumer report 
        with respect to a consumer in the following situations:
                    ``(A) When the consumer applies for, or currently 
                holds, employment that requires national security 
                clearance.
                    ``(B) When otherwise required by law.
            ``(4) Effect on disclosure and notification requirements.--
        The exceptions described in paragraph (3) shall have no effect 
        upon the other requirements of this Act, including requirements 
        in regards to disclosure and notification to a consumer when 
        permissibly using a consumer report for employment purposes or 
        for making an adverse action against the consumer.''.
    (b) Conforming Amendments and Cross References.--The Fair Credit 
Reporting Act is further amended as follows:
            (1) In section 603 (15 U.S.C. 1681a)--
                    (A) in subsection (d)(3), by striking ``604(g)(3)'' 
                and inserting ``604(h)(3)''; and
                    (B) in subsection (o), by striking ``A'' and 
                inserting ``Subject to the restrictions set forth in 
                subsection 604(b), a''.
            (2) In section 604 (15 U.S.C. 1681b)--
                    (A) in subsection (a), by striking ``subsection 
                (c)'' and inserting ``subsection (d)'';
                    (B) in subsection (c), as redesignated by 
                subsection (a)(2) of this section--
                            (i) in paragraph (2)(A), by inserting ``and 
                        subject to the restrictions set forth in 
                        subsection (b)'' after ``subparagraph (B)''; 
                        and
                            (ii) in paragraph (3)(A), by inserting 
                        ``and subject to the restrictions set forth in 
                        subsection (b)'' after ``subparagraph (B)'';
                    (C) in subsection (d)(1), as redesignated by 
                subsection (a)(2) of this section, by striking 
                ``subsection (e)'' in both places that term appears and 
                inserting ``subsection (f)''; and
                    (D) in subsection (f), as redesignated by 
                subsection (a)(2) of this section--
                            (i) in paragraph (1), by striking 
                        ``subsection (c)(1)(B)'' and inserting 
                        ``subsection (d)(1)(B)''; and
                            (ii) in paragraph (5), by striking 
                        ``subsection (c)(1)(B)'' and inserting 
                        ``subsection (d)(1)(B)''.
            (3) In section 607(e)(3)(A) (15 U.S.C. 1681e(e)(3)(A)), by 
        striking ``604(b)(4)(E)(i)'' and inserting ``604(c)(4)(E)(i)''.
            (4) In section 609 (15 U.S.C. 1681g)--
                    (A) in subsection (a)(3)(C)(i), by striking 
                ``604(b)(4)(E)(i)'' and inserting ``604(c)(4)(E)(i)''; 
                and
                    (B) in subsection (a)(3)(C)(ii), by striking 
                ``604(b)(4)(A)'' and inserting ``604(c)(4)(A)''.
            (5) In section 613(b) (15 U.S.C. 1681k(b)) by striking 
        section ``604(b)(4)(A)'' and inserting ``section 
        604(c)(4)(A)''.
            (6) In section 615 (15 U.S.C. 1681m)--
                    (A) in subsection (d)(1), by striking ``section 
                604(c)(1)(B)'' and inserting ``section 604(d)(1)(B)'';
                    (B) in subsection (d)(1)(E), by striking ``section 
                604(e)'' and inserting ``section 604(f)''; and
                    (C) in subsection (d)(2)(A), by striking ``section 
                604(e)'' and inserting ``section 604(f)''.
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