Credit checks on the job hunt: The debate continues

Drew, What "statistical studies"? You write like you might be college educated, so you know that in order to be taken seriously you need to cite your "facts".

I hypothesize that you are incorrect and that people with poor credit, especially in the last few years are LEAST likely to steal because by having poor credit they are essentially proving that they are not willing to steal to maintain good credit. The deed is done. The bad credit is there and there is no reason to steal to compound the problem. However, I further hypothesize, that those with good credit may indeed be likely to steal to protect their good credit. Now I will open a new tab and look for evidence based "studies" to back up my assertion...BRB...5 mins later I have: Eric Rosenberg of the TransUnion credit bureau states in testimony to Oregon legislators  "At this point we don’t have any research to show any statistical correlation between what’s in somebody’s credit report and their job performance or their likelihood to commit fraud,”...Furthermore, Drew:

Jerry K. Palmer, a psychology professor at Eastern Kentucky University, said his studies, though relatively small, found no correlation between the quality of an employee’s credit report and that worker’s job performance or likelihood to quit.

He said he was not aware of any studies that showed a correlation between poor credit and employee fraud or violence. But he noted that more research was needed to show what credit reports could predict.

Source: The New York Times, Andrew Martin Feb. 10, 2010

So Drew, quit acting like a know it all and just spewing the garbage that popular media, pop culture, and credit card company rhetoric that has permeated yopur brain as if it is fact, when it absolutely is NOT fact...Drew.

Great work chum, keep the application up

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So what if I don't have perfect credit? Look at my salary history. Look at my employment hiistory. Yet they probably don't even consider those things. All they want to know is crap like what race you are, have you ever had a felony conviction, have you ever received food stamps, stuff that most of us would rather not tell strangers.

Honestly, I think the only reason they want you to have good credit is so they can send you out to get a huge loan. It's is their interest that we have good credit, not ours.

Your credit is used for everything you do. God help you if you have bad credit. It's a vicious circle. If your credit is bad you don't get anything. Job, house, or anything else you might want.

Anything to do with Credit Card or credit checkers is all bull. They proved that right on TV. Join BBB and watch everything about your credit get better. But just remember. There are hidden files we'll never see. Even when they say they take a wrongful or unlawfull or even expired credit reference off your report. THEY DON"T.Without credit all those forclosed homes would never have been borrowed on.

I feel it is extremely unfair. My boyfriend has been job searching for over a year now and the only reason we can think of that employers are not even calling back is that his credit is terrible. The employers have no way of telling why someone's credit is bad from what I understand - and while it may be a red flag in terms of how responsible a potential employee can be, it can still be unfair especially in my boyfriend's case. His credit is only bad because he was unable to pay back the loans that he received in order to be able to attend ITT for an education he'd be able to use to get a better job in the future. They obviously did nothing for him.

This is a viscous cycle. =/

HAving bad credit does not reflect my ability to do a job.....it reflects the so called American dream (illusion) we all live in in that we ALL live beyond our means.....It does not mean I am NOT going to work to my full capacity to hold and maintain my job so that I am able to sistain me and my family....it does not mean I do not want to work and be a part of mainstream society,,,,,,,xit does mean that if I am not hired, a omapny may lose the best employee they could have had for the tasks at hand as I will alwyas try harder, perform better and accomplish more........

IF YOUR CREDIT IS DECENT AND YOU RECENTLY LOST YOUR JOB--DO THIS!!! Print out your free credit report from all 3 agencies (make sure it shows the as of date) and PAY THE FEE for at least one credit score--again, make sure it shows the date.
This way if a prospective employer wants to run a credit check, you can show that prior to your layoff your credit was good--that you've become a victime of the bad economy. This worked for my sister who got the advice from a heads-up human resources manager. You might wait until you are actually out of funds to print out your good credit reports/score, so the dates are as late as possible.

Just to clear a few things up, your medical history does not show on your credit report. Race, marital status, religion, and all the other things people are complaining about also do not show up on your credit report. Your credit report shows info related to your credit, thats it.

Companies use credit reports for several reasons. Statistical studies have proven that people with poor credit are more likely to steal from the company. This does not mean that someone with bad credit is a thief, it means that without any other data available, people with bad credit are more likely to be thiefs than people with good credit. Companies use this type of info because it has been proven to be accurate in the past. Once the numbers start showing that this is not true, then companies will stop using it.

Another reason companies use credit reports to decide who to hire is because people with poor credit are more likely to have to deal with collection calls at work, have wage garnishment, and a vareity of other issues that end up costing the company money. Statistical studies have also shown that people with financial problems are more stressed and therefore more productive at work.

I am not saying that I agree with the their decision to use credit reports during the hiring process, but these are some of the reasons that they do.

A pre-employment credit check is simply FINANCIAL DISCRIMINATION. Employers who practice this are financially profiling innocent people to be future criminals. Hello ACLU why do you still exist if you can't protect Americans from something so blatantly discriminatory to everyone.

Credit reporting agencies are private companies maintaining public data. There are similar insurance databases. That fact alone should create significant public heartburn. The sale and use of such data has exploded with the expansion ofl pseudo-statistically justified reasons. Credit scores should be limited to applications for credit, period. Any other use is unproven and unsupportable. There is only an assumed connection between poor credit and temptation for embezzelment or fraud. There is no proven link. Moreover, how many employers denying applicants interviews on the basis of credit scores (an action not required to be reported to the applicant) are doing so for jobs that actually involve the opportunity for stealing of funds or fraud with company assets? How many jobs actually involve such opportunity? Anecdotally, the conclusion is precious few. Since credit data is so hard to modify or expunge and the picture presented is foggy at best, perhaps an employer should only have access if he or she can prove the job at issue actually involves an opportunity to commit fraud with company assets or embezzle company funds. If he or she cannot prove that, no access, with appropriate punitive measures to enforce the law. Yes, yes, stymie business, the argument goes. Bull. The credit system is so heavily stacked against the individual reportee that some balance needs to be restored.

I am a job hunter myself and have absolutely no problem at all if the check my credit. hell the can check what color drawers im wearing if they want because i have absolutely nothing to hide. the reason they check credit is because embezzlement and fraud is on the rise. the only ones that has a problem with there credit being checked is the criminals or the ones thinking about being criminals

This is such an invasion of privacy, not based on credit being negative or positive but simply based on it's not some 25 year old HR kids business what is on my credit. I had plastic surgery after a car accident but it was long enough after that my insurance did not cover. I used the Dr.s financing as it was no interest for a year. I paid off before that year but now on my credit report it says "So and So Plastic Surgery Institute". So yes credit reports can reveal personal information that is NO ONE's business. I don't sign back round or credit check waivers unless i have been made an offer. I also don't provide my SS# until then. I am not about to give every Tom, Dick and Harry all my personal info. This is how identity theft and such things happen.

Not surprising considering we are a society the focuses on what people do wrong! "Corporate America" certainly hires for skills a potential employee can do well. But, anyone who has worked for a typical company will find their reviews, training and overall value predicated on what they do not do well. So, a company will certainly look at an employee with bad credit and focus on that negative. How about focus on the positive and what that person can bring to the job. Oh...and this is a crazy thought; maybe an employee with poor credit is hightly motivated to regain financial security! That would be illustrated through hard work, loyalty and probably incentive to 'move-up' through the company ranks....

it's completely unnecessary. criminal record check yes, credit/medical check no. in canada, employeers can request a criminal record check but has to be provided by applicant. they cannot access any credit or medical info, but they can ask certain questions about surgeries, medications, prior conditions that could affect your job. even in jobs in the financial section, credit info means nothing. people with good credit can be criminals and irresponsible

Multiple credit checks on a person in a short period of time lower their credit score. Potential employers SHOULD NOT be able to do credit checks on a person as consideration for employment. After all, the person is not buying anything from the company, the company IS buying the person's services by hiring them. ON CREDIT too. By that I mean you are going to work for them with the promise they will pay on the schedule agreed to when employment starts. If anything the employee should have the right to run a credit check on the employer.

Credit checks for employment is a form of revolving jeopardy: can't get a job because of bad credit, and can't improve the credit because one can't get a job. This is unfair.

Cited in this article are very weak arguments, based on spurious statistics, in support of employment credit checks. Truth is, it is the credit bureaus who are behind this, as they stand to gain from the increase in credit checks.

Credit checks should be banned as well for insurance & housing as well. Again, it is the credit bureaus who have convinced insurers and landlords that this is necessary. Credit checks should only be used for... credit.

Background checks should be sufficient for HR purposes. If I have no felonies, no record of theft or embezzlement, no DUIs (if the job requires me to drive for the company) then how I pay my personal bills is MY business, it does not mean I will steal from the company, any number of factors could have a negative effect on my credit. And to the HR person who posted above, YOU may give people a pass if they can explain poor credit to your satisfaction, but I'm willing to bet a paycheck that you are one of the few who do so. A clean background check and good references from former employers should be sufficient.

NO No No They should not be Allowed to check anyones credit report... The only time it should be checked is if you are going to borrow Money from a bank or when u apply for a credit card. There are too many things that can cause someone to have bad credit, this does not mean they will make a bad employee....

As someone who has worked darn hard my whole life, saved, saved and saved some more for a rainy day, never paid a bill a day late in my life, and have a 829 credit score to show for it, I say absolutely, go ahead and check my credit score! I deserve the job because I am RESONSIBLE! Stop with the excuses people. I find it pathetic that people are bankrupt these days after only being unemployed (and many collecting 99 weeks of benefits to boot!) for such short periods of time - like less than 3 years.

I have to say that I am a tried and true awesome employee in every job I've ever been given...I'm not patting myself on the back, but I will tell you I give my 110% in whatever job I have been given, and have never been considered less than "the go-to-girl". I will also tell you that my credit is "NOT GOOD". I was a single mom for 19 years of my daughter's 20 years. Of course I had 2 long term relationships, but the two men also had children that needed supported so I was left to make sure that my daughter had everything she needed, plus a luxury every now and then. If a future employer used my credit as a guidepost to hire me...they would truly be missing out on a"diamond in the rough".

I can see credit checks if a person is being hired who would have access to funds and actually have a job function that could allow them to embezzle. But in reality, how many jobs give that much leeway? If your internal controls are so lax that it's a real possiblity, that's an issue for the company, not the employee. For the most part, credit checks are not a good indicator of how someone will perform a job - therefore they shouldn't be factored into the decision. i agree with a criminal background check, just not a financial one, except for the few positions that fall in the above criteria.

Not only should employers not be able to check but neither should apartment rentals. I was denied an apartment because , according to the owner, I owed a student loan which I might add was not in default.

I ended up renting an apartment down the street from the previous apartment and have been living here for 9 years paying the same amount of rent the previous apartment which denied me was asking.

however, sad to say, I have bachelor degree, unemployed, receiving only five hundred dollars from unemployment and being asked to move out of the apartment with no place to go I’ve lived herefor nine-years.

Not only should employers not be able to check but neither should apartment rentals. I was denied an apartment because , according to the owner, I owed a student loan which I might add which was not in default.

I ended up renting an an apartment down the street from the previous apartment and have been for 9 years paying the same amount of rent the previous apartment which denied was asking.

however, sad to say I have bachelor degree, unemployed, receiving only five hundred dollars from unemployment and being asked to move out of the apartment I've lived in for nine-years with no place to go.

This whole credit check thing is way out of hand. You can't ask someones age but you can check their credit.

It's just like car insurance raising your rates because of your credit history. Couldn't believe it when I found out that they feel your a worse driver because of your credit history. More like the majority of Americans have blemishes or worse on their credit history...therfore we can charge more money.

Who monitors the credit history people, can anyone start a company like equifax, trans union or others. How come lawyers don't sue them daily for things on people's credit that shouldn't be there. Ruins people's lives in seconds and takes years to fix.

Our credit report has nothing to do with a person's character and job performance. Obviously if someone is looking for a job they are possibly unemployed and need work to pay their debts. It is none of their business and its very personal information. That information is suppose to be used for obtaining more credit, not employment. Where is my privacy protection?

As a small business owner, you can darn well bet I run a credit report on everybody who has or ever will work for me.

I am in residential construction. Our work is inside customer's homes. Often times there are valuables just sitting around. I pay my people top money and I expect, no, demand, that they conduct their financial matters in a reputable fashion.

Often times I have one of my people pick up a payment for me and to take it to the bank. Creditworthiness PLUS the hiring interview tells me a lot about the character of my employees.

I learned my lesson years ago when I accepted what I was told with a handshake. No more!

If you have had money problems, just let me know what they were and how you are handling them. Don't lie to me. I can use you if - and that is a big if - you are up front with me. I might even lend you some money. I[ll be fair with you if you are fair with me.

It is sad that your credit is checked even if you are applying to a position in which you will not be handling money and if you had to claim bankruptcy it is held against you. BUT you can get a job as a cashier at one of the big box stores....I was fired and can't get a job even as a secretary now.

Discrimination comes in all forms: age, weight, size, color, nationality, sex...and this is America.

Shame on them.

i dont think it is none of thier bussiness , as long as you do a good job, it isnt anyone bussines what you spend or have in your past credit,wotn be long befor ethey are doingbedrroom checks to see if you are too kinky for thier moral thoughts,

I wouldn't mind a prospective employer running a credit check on me. As long as I was able to run a credit check on them first. I would like a copy of theeir Dunn and Bradstreet rating as well as a BBB report and references from the local chamber of commerce, a criminal background check of all the supervisors, CFOs, priciapl investors and owners.

But the most appaling thing I find on an employment application is when they ask for your social security number..

Most people don't give that out to just anyone, yet hey hand it out freely for just a promise of employment with no reguard as to who will later have access to it..

I went to apply for a carpentry job and was met by a gall with tats at what I guess was her and her boyfriends house and she wanted me to fill out the application on the hood of her car....

It asked for all linds of personal information, enough to steal my ID if they were so inclined...

Needless to say I put down my name and listed a couple references and entered "upon employment" for the blanks that askked things that should have remained confidential...

You should not have to pay for the rest of your life because employers will not hire you.Therefore you fall deeper in dept or your credit history and scores suffer more.Some of the companies ceo,s often take pens,labtops and even the company car home rather than use their own cars.This is madness.Stop this practice right now!Companies should hire based on someone,sw ability to do the job not whether or not they have great or very good credit

Do like I do, if a prospective employer states or says they are going to do a credit check, I simply grab my resume, application and tell them I would not work for them.

I have worked the same field for 26 years and considered in the very top of my field. If an employer doesn't like that I keep my credit personal, too damn bad!

Interesting that a private entity, for whom we do not vote nor have any meaningful control, can exert over our daily existence the very forces of life or death. A pointless job, a fortuitous loan, just a couple examples of what this credit rating can or will do for you. Psst - tell you a secret, folks - this was once called EXTORTION, the threat of harm unless you cooperate. And to top it off, we pay MONTHLY as we would to a protection racket, to prevent our information from being used illegitimately. How much longer before such a Capitalist Tax is levied from birth? Pay to protect your childs' information, yes? Pay corporations to protect us - they've done so very much better than government ever has, eh?

I think employers shoud not have the right toyour credit reports becuse thay do not need them it is none of thar bisnes it is another way of controling you and away of telling you that we are stuped and we cant control of our lives as adukts

I think there should be a law passed stating that a person's credit history cannot be used in decideing whether that person can get the job or not! It's not fair to that person and as far as I'm concerned it isn't anyone else's business!With the economy the way it is right now and people loseing their jobs,its kinda hard to keep your credit straight! I've been out of work for almost 2 years now and can't get a job because I have less than perfect credit,how is it a person can get their credit straight if you can't even get a job so you can pay your bills!

Nobodys business but mine.

It seems reprehensible that a prospective employer can run a credit check on a private citizen. There are many reasons beyond someone's control for why they may have bad credit such as divorce, identity theft, etc.

I have great credit. (Knock on wood.) However, I would consider suing an employer that rescinded a job offer due to a credit check.

Cough-Cough, (excuse-me),

Should an employeer ask for such irrelavent information, be polite, excuse yourself from the interview, application desk or where ever when asked. Thank "God" for telling you, and go find a real job.

Even in roman slaves were not required fill out these stupid applications for a position.

I will give information as needed, thus - I'm working on your aircraft - I will tell you everything I know about aircraft - where I worked, references and the like - but if you ask me if I have ever worn a condom ? ? ?

I only answer questions about the job I am applying for, sometimes more if I, repeat I feel it may seal the deal.

An employeer has no right to ask questions outside of the job. You may not get it for not answering - but I assure you, you don't want it.

Employeer's are asking me to work for them, I am asking them to work for me - and if there is a lack of respect on either side - I'm glad it did not work out.

Oh - I have never made more than $500,000.00 in 3 mos, so it is not class difference, it is simply respect and management that knows it's job.

And Good luck to all seeking a job, seems most of us are these days.

This is total BS! Just because you are behind or have or had problems on your credit score should not effect your "insurance rates" you "getting a job". There reasoning is us "poor folk" are the ones to file false reports. Let me give you this example: How many times has littly sleezy HILTON gotton millions of dollars of her jewelry stolen no proof "had to be an inside job right????" BS! The rich are the ones that file most claims because "why oh why would they ever do that they are already rich?" so much crap. My bills have NOTHIING to do with my job performance and its sure as hell does not make me a thief. THIS IS PURE DISCRIMINATION. Now I am sure the rich ass's will come on here and blast this I DO NOT CARE. Live in our shoes! Stop pushing your stinking pencils behind a desk and work in a factory for 10 hours a days at min wage with NOTHING to fall back on have no insurance BE IN MY SHOES!!!!!!! AND MANY OTHERS HERE ON THE SITE OR LIFE IN GENERAL. More Government control! Because I have bad credit does NOT make me a bad person I have had BAD BAD luck and I dont get any breaks like the Kardashions....I know I will sell a sex tape seems to work for everyone else. Selfish Selfish people, insurance and employors that would EVER consider that!

I dont think its fair for anyone to discriminate against a person because of their credit i was verbally hired for a sand blasting job i gave my 2 week notice and was moving out of state me and wife and child moved on the way down i get a call from my "new" employer telling me that because of my credit i can not be employed this is the third time its happened i owe about 4 thousand why cant i get a job without being discriminated against

Ok, so where do I fail the credit check? I have always paid cash for everything, from the used cars I have always had to the every day things like grocerys. I don't have "bad" credit, I just have no credit, so my score is low. This practice is punishing people like me who have been taught from a young age to "pay as you go". I have always said " if I don't have the money for it, I must not need it very badly". Also I rent my home, so there is no mortgauge payments, and I don't have or want a credit card ( never did, never will).