Employer Use of Credit Reports and Background Checks || Fair Debt Collection || Forced Arbitration
Payroll Cards || Unemployment & Other Federal Benefits Prepaid Cards
Work Transportation
The intersection of technology, financial services, and employment practices can put breadwinners at risk — especially low-wage and low-income workers who need every penny earned to survive and support their families.
The National Consumer Law Center's expertise focuses on worker protections, including accurate credit reports and employment background checks, effective prepaid benefits and payroll cards, protection of wages from debt collection, and fair car sales and lending.
Employer Use of Credit Reports and Background Checks
Policy Analysis
Policy Briefs, Reports & Press Releases
- Report: Rating State Government Payroll Cards, November 2015
- Report: Broken Records: How Errors by Criminal Background Checking Companies Harm Workers and Businesses, April 2012
- Press Release: New FTC Study Points to Much-Needed Reforms for Credit Reporting Industry, February, 2013
- Press Release: CFPB to Oversee Credit Reporting Agencies, July 16, 2012
Comments and Testimony
- Comments to the Massachusetts Trial Court Public Access to Court Records Committee re: Criminal Cases and Internet Access to Docket Entries and Court Files, June 15, 2015
- Testimony before the U.S. House of Representative Committee on Financial Services regarding "An Overview of the Credit Reporting System", September 10, 2014
- Congress Should Ban the Use of Credit Histories in Employment with Limited Exceptions. From: "Making Sense of Consumer Credit Reports," Dec. 19, 2012
- Testimony: Examining the Uses of Consumer Credit Data, Sept. 13, 2012 (Before the U.S. House Committee on Financial Services Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit)
- Testimony: Use of Credit Reports in Employment and Restoring Consumer Rights for Adverse Action Disclosures -- Use of Credit Information beyond Lending: Issues and Reform Proposals, May 12, 2010 (Before the U.S. House Committee on Financial Services Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit)
- Motion for Leave to file an Amicus Brief and [Proposed] Amicus brief in the Middle District of North Carolina (Brown v. Delhaize and Food Lion, Inc.), August 11, 2014
Fair Debt Collection (Wage & Benefits Garnishment; Workplace Calls from Debt Collectors)
Policy Analysis
Comments, Letters & Testimony
- Letter supporting H.R. 5664 (Cummings), Wage and Garnishment Equity Act, July 6, 2016
- Testimony of Robert J. Hobbs to the Nevada House of Representatives in support of SB 373 Nevada Wage Protection Act to increase the amount of wages exempt from creditors from 75% to 90%, March 26, 2013; Nevada Assembly testimony, May 3, 2013
- Comments re: Opposing Debt Collectors Autodialing Personal Cell Phones and Calls to Employers (to the Federal Communications Commission), 2006
Policy Briefs, Reports & Press Releases
- Report: No Fresh Start: How States Let Debt Collectors Push Families into Poverty, October 2013
- Policy Brief: New Mass. Law Protects Cars, Wages, Bank Accounts from Collectors, March 9, 2011
Model Law
- Model Family Financial Protection Act, October 2013
Forced Arbitration
- NCLC to testify before the Chicago City Council on harms of forced arbitration by contractors in consumer and employment agreements, June 15, 2016. Testimony || Press Release
Payroll Cards
Policy Analysis
Policy Briefs, Reports & Press Releases
- Press Release: Payroll Cards Make Sense for Unbanked with Proper Guidelines, August 7, 2013
- Press Release: How to Create a Payroll Card that Works for the Unbanked and Business, July 31, 2013 (American Payroll Association & NCLC)
- Press Release: Joint Payroll Card Principles, March 2011
- Policy Brief: NCLC, Consumer Union, NACHA, American Payroll Association and Association for Financial Professionals Joint Core Principles for Payroll Cards (February 2011); NCLC and CU Supplemental Principles
Model Law
Other Resources
- Marketplace Radio interview (5:21 runtime) with NCLC attorney Lauren Saunders re: consumer rights and payroll debit cards, July 5, 2013
Unemployment & Other Federal Benefits Prepaid Cards
Policy Analysis
Comments & Letters
- Group Comments: Direct Deposit of Federal Benefits and Wages to Prepaid and Stored Value Cards, July 2010 (To the U.S. Department of the Treasury Financial Management Service)
- Group Letter Supporting Benefit Card Fairness Act, H.R. 4552, May 2010
Policy Briefs, Reports & Press Releases
- Report: 2013 Survey of Unemployment Compensation Prepaid Cards, Jan. 29, 2013
- Report: Prepaid Cards for Unemployed Workers: Who Holds the Winning Hand? States Can Deal Workers a Winning Hand by Discarding Junk Fees (NCLC Reviews 40 States' Unemployment Compensation Prepaid Cards), May 2011
- Policy Brief: Protections Needed for Prepaid Payroll, Unemployment Benefits, Child Support, and Other Prepaid Payment Cards, March 2009
Other Resources
- PowerPoint: Public Benefits and Wages on Prepaid Cards, November 2010
Work Transportation
Programs
Working Cars for Working Families
A safe and reliable car is essential to the success of most working families. This NCLC project contains information on policies and programs (including car ownership programs for low-income families) to secure a fair deal when buying and financing a car.
Policy Analysis
Comments & Testimony
- Group comments to the FTC on the Used Car rule, March 12, 2013
- Testimony re: Consumer Protection in the Used and Subprime Car Market, March 2009 (Before the U.S. House Subcommittee on Commerce Trade and Consumer Protection of the Committee on Energy and Commerce)
Policy Briefs, Reports & Press Releases
- Report: Fueling Fair Practices - A Roadmap to Improved Public Policy for Used Car Sales and Financing, 2009
Other Resources
- PowerPoint: Understanding the Impact of Car Ownership Programs for Low-Income Consumers, January 2012
