-
or, subscribe to us by e-mail!
Syndicate
-
Recently Written
- Preventing workplace violence
- Check me out
- Check ‘em all
- Watching out for the weasel words
- Hello, I love you, let me check your background
- Beware the thumb drive
- One more way applicants can slip through the cracks
- How a church uses background checks
- Bad communication can wreck a good policy decision
- Praise for background checks
-
Categories
-
Archives
-
Links
- BRB Public Records Portal
- National Association of Professional Background Screeners
- National Sex Offender Registry
- Office of Foreign Asset Control (OFAC)
- OIG Excluded Persons
- SentryLink - Provides criminal background checks and other employment screening services.
- Sentrylink @ NAPBS
- The other SentryLink - No relation to us.
-
Admin
Search
| « What are you missing? | Even the police chief should follow the rules » |
Dec
31
Are pre-employment credit checks discriminatory?
Filed Under Employment screening, Credit checks | by Scott Cannon
Sometimes you hear people complain about the use of pre-employment credit checks as part of the hiring process. They say, “My bad credit shouldn’t be an issue in whether I can do the job. I’m being discriminated against.” Are they right?
Kansas City Star business columnist Diane Stafford takes up that issue in her recent column titled: Credit checks a legal part of pre-employment investigations Her bottom line is that “credit checks are a legal and in some cases appropriate part of pre-employment investigations. And there’s only a glimmer of a chance that credit checks might be considered discriminatory.”
In most cases, you won’t decide not to hire a person based on their credit history per se. You’ll make the decision based on fitness for a particular job or because the credit check points to other issues.
Obviously a person’s credit history has a greater bearing on your decision to hire for specific positions. You’ll pay more attention to it in cases where people will have access to money or where judgment is a factor. You’ll pay less attention if you’re hiring a receptionist.
But in both cases, you want to use the credit history as an indicator of areas to check further, not as a simple black and white hiring choice. Some reasons for doing a pre-employment credit check have nothing to do with credit.
The information on a pre-employment credit check gives you an independent source of information on the job history that you can compare with what’s on a resume or application. If things don’t match up, investigate further.
One more thing. Make sure you apply the same tests and checks to everyone seeking the same position. That’s one reason why running a criminal background check and a pre-employment credit check on all potential hires is a good idea.
WHAT A JOKE! Using a credit check to determine if someone is hard worker, has the skills and qualifications to do a job, and is the right fit for a company and position is SICK! Who ever wrote this article better get some help! You are SICK! What is the country coming too? Soon, employers will demand that they live with you for a week beofre they offer you a position. Your ENTIRE personal financial history has NO BEARING on your job. I am disgusted and people who write articles like this is what is wrong with this country!
This is ridiculous! This should be illegal- it’s discrimination. So now there are people who have bad credit because they can’t pay their bills because they can’t get a job- because they have bad credit! Unbelievable!
this is fucked up I got bad credit because of a school loan I’m unable to pay and medical bills this is causing me from getting work and a pickup truck that I coesigned for a friend to get and he defaulted on the loan and caused my credit to go bad. now I can’t get a job because of this dumb shit there should be a law against credit checks period for employeement. I agree your statement is fucked up
I think its a good idea. I am an mba student that is writing a thesis about the topic. according to my research the people who are saying its a bad idea are the ones who have bad credit. second of all people are thinking from an individualistic point of view rather then from what is the best for the company view. I would not want to hire a cfo that has bad credit because that shows his bad tendencies. THird of all i do not think that it should have a bearing on some positions. someone who works in the customer service department should not be effected, on that note someone who is given a company credit card or a position with some kind of money authority should because that will effect the company.
I think that is bullshit. A poor credit history should not effect an individuals performance. That is discrimination to not hire someone with a poor credit history. I am in debt because of student loans and what not and now I will not be able to get a job because of my poor credit history. Also, just because someone has a poor credit history does not mean they will steal. Check the fucking criminal background check to see if there are any reports on theft. If so then I can understand. My credit is fucked up, but I have a clean background check.
even people with bad credit still spend money. Depriving a person from eomployment over THEIR OWN PERSONAL FINANCIAL ISSUES only compounds their problems. This country needs people to spend money. They will get it one way or another. What would you rather see…our tax dollars supporting people who don’t have jobs, putting even more strain on our crippling economy? Or, how about we trust our brothers ans sisters as we should, with a little humanity isntead of kicking them when they are down. And to assume someone is a potential criminal because of bad credit… We have become greedy and parinoid of our own kind. PARINOID CORPORATE AMERICA….. Every day loosing more rights, freedom and privacy that our forefathers fought and died for… There is no doubt the corruption resides in all walks of life….rich and poor, in law enforement and religion, people with good credit and bad, so how does bad credit acually define me? Hmmmmm……
I, myself, have been denied employment because of my credit history. I went online to check out my free annual credit report and even took advice to obtain my credit score for free…guess what I found out: The only part of my credit report that was shady were the student loans and medical records on my account. Shouldn’t those count for something??? My hard work and determination to put myself through school and have not one late payment on my bills, but the fact they are reporting the loans on my credit lowers my score. I think this horrible legal loop hole should be abolished. I have been denied many wonderful employment opportunities because of my credit. I have only had 1 credit card my entire life and that has been paid off and closed. Am I at such a horrible risk for employment?? I don’t steal, I have no criminal convictions. I would recommend NO ONE to apply for employment with Express Clothing Company, Victoria’s Secret, Limited Clothing Company simply because they run credit checks before hiring anyone. Also, what are the standards to which an employer will hire someone? What kind of credit is recommended to become eligible for employment??? Guess what assholes: I work for the state government now and have a wonderful job. It’s a hell of a lot better than any “credit checking” employer could give me. Don’t waste your time with a company/organization who checks your credit. If they were so shallow to run a credit check in the first place, then they were worth it after all.
Checking someones credit for a job should be against the law. I for one have ok credit, which was perfect before the recession we are in now as well as the down turn in the construction industry. I know plenty of people that had great credit before all of this, now they cant find a job because of the economy, which is making them fall behind on their credit, and in turn, causing there score to drop. This will cause them further complications in the future while job hunting. It is a BAD practice and people need to get together to fight it. Get petions going, write your congress person..do what ever it takes. Not to mention, do you really want some head hunter, of HR person seeing what your worth, what assets you have, seeing what you paid for your home or car. Its a total invasion of privacy.
Fight the good fight.
If a credit report is an accurate determination of our integrity and character, which is what it boils down to, then we should have used that tactic on all government employees, police, president, politics, ceo’s, military forces, etc… People are who they are no matter what. So, having good credit means, there are no corrupt cops, Clinton would not have screwed Hilary and Bush would not have screwed us all. (sorry, just had to throw that in there). Sound like a joke? It really is. A credit report to get a job for us hard working americans is wrong. We are the majority, and in this country, majority rules. MY PERSONAL FINANCIAL ISSUES ARE BETWEEN ME AND MY CREDITORS, NOT ME AND MY BOSS.
END GAME
Well, people make mistakes. If you are in charge of money and need to manage that money and u will be handeling that money physically, it makes sense you may want to inquire about a persons credit history. However, missed or lack of payments, getting in a credit ‘crunch’ really should not be a reason to not hire somebody. Credit is not personal character. If a person has a bad driving record, should they be punished? If they consistently go over there cel phone minutes? They like to drive fast? Where does the personality check end? Crdeit is a stupid way to check on some one (and I have FABULOUS) credit, MBA Thesis student….by the way did you happen to grow up in white, privilaged America????
I have been trying to get a new job after having my first baby and relocating to San Diego and I have had such a hard time. I have hospital debt from an emergency surgery I had when I was 18 and it has put me in debt for life. It is really frustrating when you are trying to pay off a debt but you have no money and no one will give you a job. Many of the jobs I’ve interviewed with seemed to think I was the perfect fit for the position and then I never get a call back. It’s not like I racked up a bunch of credit card debt shopping and never bothered to pay for it, I got sick and needed care and because of the debt I incured I will never be able to buy a house, get a business loan, or give my daughter everything that she deserves.