Equal Employment for All Act of 2025
The Equal Employment for All Act of 2025 would tighten the rules around using consumer credit information in hiring and employment decisions. The bill amends the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) to broadly prohibit employers from using consumer credit reports or related information to assess a job applicant’s or employee’s creditworthiness or to make adverse employment decisions, with limited exceptions. The intent is to reduce credit-based discrimination in hiring and to ensure employment decisions are not tied to an individual’s credit history. The bill would also require that any allowed use of such information be subject to consumer authorization in specific, narrowly defined situations and would preserve existing disclosure and notification requirements.
Key Points
- 1General prohibition with narrow exceptions: Employers (prospective or current) may not use a consumer report that bears on creditworthiness for employment purposes or to make an adverse employment action, with exceptions only for jobs requiring national security clearance or when otherwise required by law.
- 2Consumer authorization and limited exceptions: If an employer seeks to rely on credit-related information, the consumer may need to authorize procurement of the report. The authorized use is limited to jobs that require access to classified information or where law requires such reporting. Employers may not rely on lack of authorization to deny employment.
- 3Disclosure and notification intact: The bill states that existing disclosure and notification requirements under the FCRA remain in effect even when exceptions apply.
- 4Structural changes to the FCRA: The bill reorganizes and renumbers certain sections of the FCRA to accommodate the new prohibition and its cross-references, ensuring the new rules are integrated with existing provisions on consumer reports and adverse actions.
- 5Purpose and scope: The measure targets the use of credit information in employment decisions, aiming to reduce unjust discrimination based on credit history and to align employment practices with broader equity goals.