On June 7, 2016 Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenny signed the “Fair Practices Ordinance: Protections against Unlawful Discrimination” bill into law. This bill amends Chapter 9-1100 of The Philadelphia Code and prohibits employers from using credit information such as history and score to make employment decisions in some circumstances. This new law has been implemented in order to prevent employers from unlawfully discriminating against employees and applicants on the basis of credit. As of July 7, 2016 not only will employers no longer be able to consider credit for non-managerial employment decisions but it will also be illegal for them to request permission from employees and candidates to view such information.
Additionally, if the employer does utilize credit information for employment decisions, they must give a written notice to the employee or applicant about the decision before taking any action, along with the credit information that was used in the process.