The city of Hartford says it will no longer screen job applicants’ credit scores as a condition of employment, hailed by one advocacy group as the first municipal ordinance of its kind in the nation.
City Council earlier this week voted to end the practice.
Demos, a national public policy research and advocacy center that supports fair employment and publishes research on predatory credit practices, said the legislation is the first municipal ordinance of its kind in the country.
The group Connecticut to follow suit, joining at Maryland, Washington and Hawaii where similar legislation was adopted.
“It’s appalling that a majority of American employers now use credit checks as part of the hiring process despite the ample social science research that shows negative credit reports have absolutely no correlation to job performance,” said Demos President Miles Rapoport, Connecticut’s former secretary of the state.
The city also says it will no longer pre-screen job applicants based on whether or not they have criminal histories. The so-called “ban the box” initiative refers to a box on many job forms that applicants are asked to check off if they have a criminal conviction.
Instead, the city says this information will be obtained only when a candidate is extended a conditional offer of employment.Â
