Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney has signed three bills to amend the city’s Fair Criminal Record Screening Standards (FCRSS) and credit ban ordinances. The amendments go into effect on March 21, 2021 and April 1, 2021.
- Bill No. 200479 expands the FCRSS ordinance’s definition of covered “employee” to “any person employed or permitted to work at or for a private employer within the geographic boundaries of the City, including as an independent contractor, transportation network company driver, rideshare driver, or other gig economy worker.” The bill also widens the definition of a covered “private employer” to “any third-party person or entity that facilitates the relationship of work for pay between two other parties, as full-time or part-time employees or as independent contractors.” In addition, the amendment allows employers to ask about an employee’s pending criminal charge provided that it is job-related, the employer’s written policy details the pending charges that must be reported, and the employer “reasonably” concludes that the employee’s continued employment would present an “unacceptable risk to the operation of the business or to co-workers or customers” and that terminating the employee is “compelled by business necessity.”
- Philadelphia’s credit ban law, which prohibits employment credit screening for most employers and jobs, previously exempted “any law enforcement agency or financial institution." Now, under Bill No. 200413 law enforcement agencies or financial institutions will be allowed to conduct credit screening only if one of the other exceptions in the credit ban ordinance applies, such as where the applicant or employee’s credit information “must be obtained pursuant to state or federal law” or where the “job requires an employee to be bonded under City, state, or federal law.”
- Bill No. 200614 aligns previously unique procedural requirements when an employer uses credit history for an adverse employment decision with existing FCRA requirements. The amendments make clear that an employer should follow the Fair Credit Reporting Act’s pre-adverse action and adverse action requirements for credit screening. Because the pre-amendment language did not exactly track the FCRA’s wording, it was unclear whether FCRA compliance alone was sufficient to satisfy the credit ban’s requirement.
