On December 19, 2025, Governor Kathy Hochul signed into law New York State Senate Bill S3072 amending the state’s Fair Credit Reporting Act which regulates the preparation, dissemination and use of consumer credit reports, including pre-employment background checks. Under this new amendment, New York State employers are now prohibited from requesting and using any applicant’s or employee’s credit history in connection with employment decisions. New York City has had a similar law in place since 2015.
In particular, the amendment establishes that it is “an unlawful discriminatory practice for an employer, labor organization, employment agency or any agent thereof to request or to use for employment purposes the consumer credit history of any applicant for employment or employee,” especially when making decisions about hiring, compensation, or other terms and conditions of employment. As defined in the amendments, “consumer credit history” can include a consumer credit report, credit score or any other information obtained by an employer that details an employee’s credit accounts, bankruptcies, judgment or liens.
The amendment also outlines certain employer- and position-specific exceptions to the general prohibition of employers’ use of an employee’s consumer credit history. These exceptions include:
- Employers who are required by state or federal law or by a self-regulatory organization to use an employee’s consumer credit history for employment purposes;
- Persons applying for peace or police officer positions or other positions within a law enforcement agency that perform an enforcement or investigative function;
- Persons in a position that is subject to a background investigation by a state agency and where the position is appointed and requires a high degree of public trust;
- Persons in a position in which they are required to be bonded under state or federal law;
- Persons in a position in which they are required to possess a security clearance under state or federal law;
- Persons in a non-clerical position in which they have regular access to trade secrets, intelligence information or national security information (as defined in the amendment);
- Persons in a position in which either (a) they have signatory authority over third-party funds or assets valued at $10,000 or more or (b) they are in a fiduciary relationship with their employer and have authority to enter into financial agreements valued at $10,000 or more; and
- Persons in a position with regular duties that allow them to modify digital security systems.
These amendments make New York the eleventh state to ban employer’s access to employee’s credit history, including Illinois and California. The amendments are set to go into effect on April 18, 2026. Employers should evaluate their policies and practices for requesting and reviewing applicant’s or employee’s credit history to ensure that such requests either do not violate the law’s prohibitions or fall within one of the enumerated exceptions.
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