A freshman Chicago alderman concerned about the potential for a new class of permanently unemployed workers wants to ban the rejection of job applicants because of bad credit histories or gaps in employment.
The goal, said Ald. Ameya Pawar, 47th, is to prevent employers from discriminating against people who have hit hard times in the current economy.
“If you’ve been out of work for on average 27 weeks or more, and now employers are saying they are only going to look at people who are employed, you are creating a permanent class of unemployable people, and that’s unacceptable,” Pawar said.
Pawar, noting that some online job postings state “unemployed need not apply,” wants to amend the city’s Human Rights Ordinance. All but nine of the 50 City Council members signed off on his proposal this week.
The change would add credit history and gap in employment history to the many categories against which employment discrimination is banned. Other categories include race, color, sex, age, religion, disability and sexual orientation.
Pawar said he understands that in some cases there are legitimate reasons to consider credit history. He said he’s willing to consider changes to his proposal to take that into account.
The state last year enacted a prohibition on considering credit histories in employment decisions except in certain circumstances, such as when an employee works at a bank, handles financial instruments or large amounts of cash, works in law enforcement, has access to confidential information, is a government employee, or collects debts.
Ald. Joe Moore, 49th, chairman of the Human Relations Committee, said the goal is to mirror the state, so job-seekers who believe they have faced discrimination can go to the city’s Human Rights Commission for relief, which can be less complicated and expensive than going to the courts for relief as required under state statute.
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