What is with employment ads requesting credit checks???

[gatorboy]

I've seen several over the past month. Help wanted ads where the employer requests a credit check before you are considered for a job.

Why would they need to check your credit for a job? If anything, we should probably have theirs checked to make sure your check wouldn't bounce!

[WorseBeforeBetter]

1. If you're up to your eyeballs in debt...

then they're thinking you might pose a greater risk for company theft, etc. At least that's one reason.

[lizerdbits]

9. That and selling information

I was asking my dad about it when job hunting last year and he said your potential to sell company information to competitors is also a concern. Could be a problem if you went to school on loans you're paying back yourself and you can't get a job because of what you owe.

[WorseBeforeBetter]

19. It's quite the vicious circle, isn't it? (n/t)

[Deep13]

2. Don't know the legality, but soooo not cool.

They don't want to deal with garnishments.

[bryant69]

3. I suppose to make sure that you pay your bills on time?

Shows that you are the sort of person who will then show up to work on time and do a job.

I guess.

Or, if you want to be cynical about it (and who doesn't these days), they want to see what your debts are so they know badly they can abuse you; if you have a lot of debts you can't afford to quit as easily.

Bryant
Check it out --> http://politicalcomment.blogspot.com

[frazzledmom]

12. Well that would make sense if they were interviewing

people who have jobs and can pay their bills.

[ben_meyers]

4. Your credit file

May also contain employment history info.

[Vincardog]

5. could it be the are looking for some good credit to steal?

Would anybody know what to do with a few hundred management level RePigLican SSNs and personnel info?

[Wcross]

6. Hell, they want to look at your piss.

They might as well look at your credit reports too!

[hippiechick]

7. It might have to do with the Patriot Act, seriously ...

... those 'credit' and 'background' checks they run are so far-reaching that they can pretty much find out if you're on ANY kind of boo-boo list, for any reason.

Whether they snoop to the ends of the earth or stick with basic 'is this person a felon?' info, I do not know.

:shrug:

[Deja Q]

21. The truth is in the middle;

both sides have some validity.

[Firespirit]

8. It seems that it's part of a vicious cycle

If they don't want to employ people with debts, or who have filed for personal bankruptcy before, then those very people who NEED jobs the most (and are seeking them in order to pay off their debts) are the most unable to get them.

[enid602]

10. cycle

Could really be an issue for folks who get heavily into debt as a result of illness. I guess these new credit requirements to support employment are meant to speed up the cycle toward homelessness.

[BlackVelvet04]

11. I was going to apply for a job and they

request a credit check authorization. I have really good credit, never declared bankruptcy, not in a lot of debt, etc., but damn I don't think my credit report is their friggin' business. I'm not going to apply for that particular job.

I'm sick of this shit. They don't want to pay shit but want to know everything about you and your personal life.

[gatorboy]

13. Did they tell you why they were curious about your credit?

eom

[BlackVelvet04]

25. No....

it's just part of the application. A release for credit information is included.

[chaska]

14. I just refused to apply for a job because of that...

Big Lots. Yes, I have fallen that far.

[aikoaiko]

15. Not having financial red flags might be a good indicator of conscientiousness.

[AndreaCG]

16. And the credit card debt might be due to

Overwhelming medical expenses.

Just saying...

[aikoaiko]

17. sure.

overwhelming medical expenses because they opted to not get insurance or because they lost their job and the medicial emergencies arose.

You're right that there could be non-worker oriented issues for debt and failure to pay.

[Yavin4]

18. The Only Laws Against Discrimination Are Based on Race, Gender, Age, Disability,

national origin, and religion.

Everything else is fair game to discriminate against you for employment, including a bad credit history.

Employers have almost complete power in hiring and firing decisions, until Americans get smart and form unions to protect themselves.

[truebrit71]

20. Amen to your last sentence....Amen indeed!

Until American workers unionize to protect themselves, this sort of shit will become even more prevalent...

If it were up to Corporations, there would be no paychecks, just "store-credits" and 80-120 hour work-weeks...

[Gormy Cuss]

22. It's not just bad credit that can be used against you.

As others have noted, potential employers can decide that you have too much debt to be trustworthy, or not enough debt to feel locked into your job with them. A potential employer may think that someone with credit accounts at cheap department stores rather than expensive ones is low class. A history of late or defaulted medical charges may mean that the applicant has chronic medical issues, a problem both in terms of absenteeism and costs to the group plan. As long as none of the above is stated as a reason for turning down the applicant, no one is the wiser.

[BlooInBloo]

28. If only Americans/DUers were intelligent enough to see the value in a well-run union.

[high density]

23. Perhaps it gives them a slice of insight into how responsible a person is?

And, yes, I know medical expenses can destroy your financial situation. (That's why most of us or our employers pay thousands a year for health insurance, but that's for another thread.) I mean let's say a job applicant says he is currently employed at $60k a year. A check of his credit report shows he's had late payments for over a year and has paid no bills in the last three months. The bank has put notice on his credit report that they have started foreclosure proceedings on his home. There are no medical collections on his credit report. Now be serious, what sort of work ethic do you think this guy is going to have? Running a credit report seems like an easy way to spot the really bad deadbeats or complete consumerism idiots that live far beyond their means. (Of course there are always exceptions to the rule.)

[meldroc]

24. I've had to go through credit checks when applying for jobs too.

That always makes me nervous, because I have some black marks on my credit coming from a spate of unemployment, so my FICO score, while slowly improving, is not great.

Fortunately, my current employer really doesn't care about my credit, so I still got hired.

A lot of what's pushing this is liability insurers. They're the ones who'll demand the employers that they insure make their employees pee in a cup and have greater than a certain FICO score, or they'll jack up premiums.

[Matariki]

26. Washington State had a bill introduced to the state senate to prohibit that very thing

don't know how far it got or whether it passed. I sure hope so, it seems like a huge infringement of privacy and a very bad path to go down...

on edit: looked it up and it passed march 12th - Washington State's Senate Bill SB 5827 http://apps.leg.wa.gov/billinfo/summary.aspx?year=2007&bill=5827

more info: http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/PreEmployment/

[doc03]

27. It's another excuse to hire the boss's or Union official's nephew

rather than a qualified applicant. My brother had his credit rating used to deny him a job a few years ago. The reason his credit rating was low was he had a $7.00 and hour job and two pre-school children that his wife had to stay home and raise. His wife couldn't work because they had no family to dump the kids on and they couldn't pay daycare with the wages she would have gotten at Walmart. In my opinion I think that an employee that really needs a job like he did would try and do a better job than the boss's or union official's nephew. My brother took an electricians test another time where I work about 5 years ago with 16 other people and he was the only one that passed. So guess what happens they decide not to hire an electrician and hired two of the people that failed the test. One was a Union Official's son and the other was a the boss's friend's son-in-law.

[SoCalDem]

29. Because they CAN.

a person who is in debt, "might" be susceptible to steal...

or they "might" just be desperate to get a job so they could pay their bills..

Job hunting in an "employers" market" is not "pretty".

[fidgeting wildly]

30. It's actually very common.

I had to submit to this kind of crap for a part time temporary retail sales job during the Christmas holidays. They also checked with my university to make sure that I really did graduate (college education not required for this job, so that made no sense), and required W2s dating back to 2001 to prove that I had worked at a place that is now out of business. The worst part is that I actually did submit to all of it. I actually got the job but stayed only a few weeks because it was a bad fit for me. I will not go through that again. A criminal background check is one thing, demanding credit and tax records is another thing entirely. It's none of their frickin' business.

[Justice Is Comin]

31. I tell them on any application I fill out that

has that provision..."Credit report inquiry is authorized only as sole remaining condition to offer of employment and my mutual indication of acceptance."

[BlooInBloo]

32. No unions, no limits on what companies can do. Stupid Americans.

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

33. Reponsibility, Emotional Health, Stability, Etc..

Now I doubt they use the report exclusively to determine whether someone would be hired or not, but a credit check can yield some pertinent insight into an applicant. Someone up to their eyes in debt may show lack of personal responsibility, may have risks such as foreclosures, repo's or just financial burden that would make ability to focus at work a concern and other factors that could give a piece of the overall puzzle when determining the right candidate for a position. It also can be used as additional verification of identity.