(a) Except as otherwise provided in this section, no employer, agent of an employer, employment agency or labor organization shall do any of the following:
(i) Fire or refuse to hire or recruit, discharge, or otherwise discriminate against an individual with respect to employment, compensation, or a term, condition, or privilege of employment because of the individual's credit history or credit report.
(ii) Inquire about an applicant's or employee's credit history.
(iii) Order or obtain an applicant's or employee's credit report from a consumer reporting agency.
(b) The prohibitions contained in this section shall not prevent an inquiry or employment action if a satisfactory credit history is an established bona fide occupational requirement of a particular position or a particular group of employees. A satisfactory credit history is not a bona fide occupational requirement unless at least one of the following circumstances is present:
(i) State or federal law requires bonding or other security covering an individual holding the position.
(ii) The duties of the position include custody of or unsupervised access to cash or marketable assets valued at $2,500 or more. For the purpose of this exception (ii), "marketable assets" means company property that is specially safeguarded from the public and to which access is only entrusted to managers and other select employees. "Marketable assets" do not include the fixtures, furnishings, or equipment of an employer.
(iii) The duties of the position include signatory power over business assets of $100 or more per transaction.
(iv) The position is a managerial position which involves setting the direction or control of the business.
(v) The position involves access to personal or confidential information, financial information, trade secrets, or state or national security information. For purposes of this exception, the following definitions apply:
A. "Personal or confidential information" means sensitive information that an employee, customer, client, or service recipient gives explicit authorization for another person to obtain, process, and keep; that an organization entrusts only to managers and a select few employees; or that is stored in secure repositories not accessible by the public or low-level employees.
B. "Financial information" means non- public information on the overall financial direction of an organization, including, but not limited to, company taxes or profit and loss reports.
C. "Trade secrets" means sensitive information regarding a company's overall strategy or business plans. This does not include general proprietary company information such as handbooks, policies, or low-level strategies.
D. "State or national security information" means information only offered to select employees because it may jeopardize the security of the state or the nation if it were entrusted to the general public.
(vi) The position meets criteria in administrative rules, if any, that the U.S. Department of Labor or the Illinois Department of Labor has promulgated to establish the circumstances in which a satisfactory credit history is a bona fide occupational requirement.
(vii) The employee's or applicant's credit history is otherwise required by or exempt under other applicable law.
(c) The prohibitions contained in this section shall not apply to any of the following:
(i) Any bank holding company, financial holding company, bank, savings bank, savings and loan association, credit union, or trust company, or any subsidiary or affiliate thereof, that is authorized to do business under the laws of Illinois or of the United States.
(ii) Any company authorized to engage in any kind of insurance or surety business pursuant to the Illinois Insurance Code, including any employee, agent, or employee of an agent acting on behalf of a company engaged in the insurance or surety business.
(iii) Any municipal law enforcement or investigative unit, including without limitation the Office of the Inspector General, Police Department, and Independent Police Review Authority.
(iv) Any entity that is defined as a debt collector under federal or state statute.
(Added Coun. J. 3-14-12, p. 22749, § 1; Amend Coun. J. 4-27-22, p. 46382, § 11)