Credit checks keeping some unemployed

[guruoo]

Photo by Andy Manis, Associated Press
Terry Becker, left, his wife, Kathie, and their son, Nate, sit in their Milton, Wis., home recently.
Becker says he racked up $25,000 in medical bills for his son, which left him with bad credit and
cost him a job when the potential employer checked his credit.


ANNAPOLIS, Md. - It's hard enough to find a job in this economy, and now some people are facing another hurdle:
Potential employers are holding their credit histories against them.

Sixty percent of employers recently surveyed by the Society for Human Resources Management said they run credit
checks on at least some job applicants, compared with 42 percent in a somewhat similar survey in 2006.

...

Wisconsin state Rep. Kim Hixson drafted a bill in his state shortly after hearing from Terry Becker, an auto
mechanic who struggled to find work. Becker said it all started with medical bills that piled up when his now
10-year-old son began having seizures as a toddler. In the first year alone, Becker ran up $25,000 in medical debt.
Over 4 1/2 months, he was turned down for at least eight positions for which he had authorized the employer to
conduct a credit check, Becker said. He said one potential employer told him, "If your credit is bad, then you'll
steal from me."

"If somebody is trying to get a job as a truck driver or a trainer in a gym, what does your credit history have to
do with your ability to do that job?" Hixson said. He said he knows of no research that shows a person with a bad
credit history is going to perform poorly.

http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2010/mar/02/credit-checks-keeping-some-unemployed/

[RevCheesehead]

1. Kim Hixson = one of the good guys.

Kick for all those who get kicked around.

[KansDem]

2. Credit checks? Drug screening? Remember lie detector tests?

When did all this hysteria about job applicants begin?

Just check the work history and references...

[mbperrin]

3. Not only is there no correlation between job performance and credit,

there are serious errors on at least 1/3 of all credit reports.

We ran into an item where someone used my SS# to rent an apartment in Spokane and ran out on the lease. Trouble is, I live in Texas and have never set foot in WA in my life. The credit folks agreed that I was full time employed here, and could think of no reason why I would need an apartment 2000 miles away, but it took 3 years and an attorney to finally get it off.

Race and credit scores correlate, though.....

[sui generis]

4. Yes and the other downside is

if you are applying to a lot of jobs and you get a lot of credit checks it will also adversely affect your credit.

Let's talk about Taleo for a minute . . . . it's everywhere. Worse than a credit check, they run a concordance file and give a "veracity score" in some instances. My company uses Taleo - the bare bones version, but I have the option to upload my employee titles, salary, exact employment dates, etc. The next time one of my employees applies for a position elsewhere and claims to be a Manager, instead of a Supervisor, Taleo cross references them to what I uploaded and they get a ding on their veracity composite. Also, if they put down their cell phone instead of their home phone, or otherwise don't match the salary I list, they get more dings, and enough dings and I won't even see those resumes - they get stopped at Taleo and never make it past the gateway.

I don't have those "features" turned on, but I'll tell that credit checks cost money and carry liability, so I'd rather get past the final interview and ask the employee to self-disclose any other "issues" they feel might impact their position, and explain rather than make a blind judgement, or rely on a number without any other information. Most people are honest, especially in this job economy,

But Taleo products are doing real damage to the job market, when used the way Taleo fully envisions controlling the applicant market.

There are potentially a lot of highly qualified people that never get their resumes forwarded to the actual company because of the way their software can be configured to work.

[tridim]

5. My credit score has been decimated because my boss layed me off..

after not paying me for a 9-month completed contract.

I really wonder if this is why I haven't been able land a job? I've had about 50 interviews so far.

If so, it's just one more way my former boss fucked me. He has already stolen everything from me he possibly could, now this. Yes I've tried to sue him, but every lawyer I've talked to says he's safe as a kitten behind his "corporate veil". Apparently "LLC" is just a word that really means the company doesn't have to pay legal contracts. :mad:

[The River]

9. I Can't Even Get

an interview. I had one call in 10 months but it didn't lead to an interview.
At 60, with some health problems, the economy and
unemployment rates as they are, I've almost given up.
My 40 year old skill set isn't in demand anywhere.
I feel as useful as an 8-Track tape player.

18 months to SS with enough savings to last 6 months.
It's time to fix my 32 year old Coachman van and get
ready to live down by the river.

[earthside]

6. Dickensian.

The digital era's equivalent of 'debtors prison'.

[BrklynLiberal]

8. Exactly!!!!!!!!!!!! So what this shows is that our health care system contributes to unemployment!

[BrklynLiberal]

7. I cannot believe this is happening! Even thhough I know of it and have heard of this before!!

I NEVER had to undergo a credit check when seeking employment..from 1966 thru 2001!!!!!!!!

Can the prospective employees check the credit rating of the companies for which they are looking to work? Let's see how that works out.