Governor Signs Bill Limiting Credit Checks of Employees and Applicants
Making California the seventh state in the country to enact such a law, Gov. Jerry Brown signed Assembly Bill 22 on October 9, 2011. As reported here in a post dated August 18, 2011, this law bars most employers (except certain financial institutions) from using pre-employment credit checks in the hiring process. It remains to be seen if Occupy Sacramento or Occupy Wall Street protesters will decry the exemption in this law as yet another example of government showing undue favoritism to the financial sector. Either way, prudent employers who wish to perform or commission credit checks of employees or job applicants should consult legal counsel so as to avoid costly lawsuits.
