Albany, NY (April 14, 2026)

A new statewide law taking effect Saturday will bar most employers in New York from using a person’s credit history when making hiring decisions, marking a significant change in how job applicants and workers are evaluated across the state. The measure, signed into law in December, applies beginning April 18, 2026 and extends beyond hiring to cover decisions involving promotions, compensation, discipline and termination.

The law amends New York’s Fair Credit Reporting Act and makes it an unlawful discriminatory practice for employers, labor organizations, employment agencies and their agents to request or use consumer credit history for employment purposes in most cases. The new rules also limit when background screening companies can provide that information, closing off a practice that critics said could unfairly damage a person’s job prospects even when credit problems had little connection to work performance.

State officials and legal summaries of the measure note that the ban is not absolute. Employers may still review credit history for certain jobs involving national security or law enforcement functions, positions that require specific security clearances, roles with authority to commit the employer to significant financial obligations, and jobs that provide regular access to trade secrets or similarly sensitive financial information. Those exceptions are expected to become an important focus for employers as they revise policies and determine which positions, if any, still qualify.

New York City already had a local credit-check restriction in place, but the statewide change now extends similar protections across New York. Supporters of the law have argued that personal credit history can reflect medical debt, family hardship or other financial strain rather than job readiness, and that removing it from the employment process could widen access to work and advancement.

For employers, the law means immediate changes in screening practices. For workers and applicants, it means one more barrier to employment is being removed as the state reshapes the rules around fairness in the workplace.