[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4983 Introduced in House (IH)]
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118th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 4983
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 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
July 27, 2023
Mr. Cohen (for himself, Mr. Davis of Illinois, Ms. Adams, Mr. Mullin,
Ms. Norton, Ms. Omar, Ms. Schakowsky, and Ms. Lee of California)
introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on
Financial Services
_______________________________________________________________________
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
2023''.
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.''; and
(4) in subsection (c), as so redesignated--
(A) in paragraph (1)--
(i) by amending the paragraph heading to
read as follows: ``Use of Consumer Reports for
Employment Purposes'';
(ii) in subparagraph (A), by redesignating
clauses (i) and (ii) as subclauses (I) and
(II), respectively, and by moving such
subclauses two ems to the right;
(iii) by redesignating subparagraphs (A)
and (B) as clauses (i) and (ii), respectively,
and by moving such clauses two ems to the
right;
(iv) by striking the period at the end of
clause (ii) (as so redesignated) and inserting
``; and'';
(v) by striking ``agency may furnish'' and
inserting ``agency--
``(A) may furnish''; and
(vi) by adding at the end the following new
subparagraph:
``(B) except as provided in paragraph (5), may not
furnish a consumer report with respect to any consumer
in which any information contained in the report bears
on the consumer's creditworthiness, credit standing, or
credit capacity to an employer if the employer seeks to
use such information in a denial of employment or any
other decision made for employment purposes.''; and
(B) by adding at the end the following new
paragraph:
``(5) Requirements for consumer reports bearing on the
consumer's creditworthiness, credit standing, or credit
capacity.--
``(A) Exceptions.--An employer may use a consumer
report with respect to any consumer in which any
information contained in the report bears on the
consumer's creditworthiness, credit standing, or credit
capacity in a decision made for employment purposes or
before taking an adverse action for employment purposes
only if the consumer authorizes the procurement of the
report as described in paragraph (2)(A)(ii) and--
``(i) the consumer applies for, or
currently holds, employment that requires the
consumer to be eligible for access to
classified information; or
``(ii) when otherwise required by law.
``(B) Limitation.--A person who seeks to obtain or
use a consumer report with respect to any consumer in
which any information contained in the report bears on
the consumer's creditworthiness, credit standing, or
credit capacity may not deny employment to the consumer
or make any other decision for employment purposes with
respect to the consumer because the consumer has not
authorized the procurement of the report as described
in paragraph (2)(A)(ii).''.
(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
communication'' and inserting ``Subject to the
restrictions set forth in subsection 604(b), a
communication''.
(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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