Credit Scores & Job Offers

I'm glad to see this issue discussed.I was a consumer fraud and ID theft victim. It took the Santa Monica Consumer Protection unit 18 months to get to the bottom of it. After it was validated and resolved I was given an FTC consumer fraud ID and CRA statement. That put an end to my long term contract career. When recruiters inquire, telling them creates less chances. HR many times pass over simply because they don't want to get caught up in legalities regarding ID Theft victims. Unfortunately, despite resources available overall HR and recruiters do not like it. Electronic pre-screens don't pick up the information always in CRA's and if statement is placed on consumer release form it is often overlooked. California is an 'at will'(without cause) termination state, thus it is very easy here not to employ because of credit.

I work as a finance recruiter in the Human Resources organization for a large corporation (a global leader in shipping & logistics). We do not utilize credit checks when make hiring decisions. The reason being, there are a number of delicate legal issues that can occur when this is the primary determining factor for not selecting a candidate. One major consideration is how the use of such tools can "adversely impact" potential candidates that fall into protected classes (i.e. women, people who have reached a certain age, minorities, etc...). For example, if it can be deemed that one of these groups maybe excluded more often because they experience credit difficulties at a higher rate because of factors out of their control (i.e. divorce tends to effect women's credit scores negatively more often than men, or young adults can have a hard time building a positive credit score due to not being able to obtain credit) then the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission can bring findings against the organization who utilizes the credit scores without making policies to safeguard against such unintentional discrimination.

I will use myself as an example. I am a single female who found myself a first time home buyer this past summer when the mortgage crisis began. I discovered I had a few issues and some errant information and was actively working with a service to clear them up. As it turns out, I was also looking for a new job at the same time and was trying to minimize my credit activities (esp. inquiries) until my loan package became finalized. I had two job offers on the table at the time and was seriously considering going with company A (a medium sized services company). When they presented their offer for a Human Resource Generalist, the VP of Human Resources mentioned it would be predicated on my passing the standard criminal background check, educational & employment verification, drug screen and a credit check. I explained that I did not have any problems with any of those screenings, however I would like to know what their decision criterion for using the credit check would be. She told me that they had no real defined definition of what was an acceptable score, but that they were looking for a pattern of "responsibility". I also asked who was required to complete the credit check and the response was only all of HR and Accounting (even though most of those employees do not have access to money). The clincher was when I asked who would be viewing the returned report, it would be my future co-worker who was an HR Generalist at a peer level.

The fact that company "A" had no set parameters for accepting or declining employment was a big red flag. They were so gun - ho to measure others' responsibility they did not consider theirs appropriately.

Through the process I learned that it is ok to ask a few important questions:

*What is the measuring criteria used (what type of report)?

*What is the criterion for a positive or negative decision?

*Who views the report?

* Will there be any opportunity to clarify any information on the report?

I hope this helps to encourage and possibly understand why many employers are leery of the credit check as a pre - employment screening unless the future employee will have access to corporate monies.

After reading this, I am perplexed as to my next move. I will probably lose my sales joy by the end of the month, due to low sales. I am just making it on my income now. Soon to be without a job and heading for temporary unemployment, I have considered credit counciling, or bankrupcy, to get rid of some of my credit card debt. Which, by the way, mounted after divorce and learning to live on one income. What can I do to minimize the effects on job opportunities?

"If you don't pay your bills you are essentially stealing..": I agree totally.

"I think credit is CERTAINLY indicative of a person's honesty, trustworthiness, and level of responsibility. "
I disagree. Good or great credit doesn't make you trustworthy or honest. Just look at the heads of major corporations.

I have worked at several different places.
I went back to school to do anything else but what i did before. I have a serial bully they call up say God knows what and i have been MOBBED at 5 places.
You ask how much turnover have you had ?
they either DO NOT PAY ATTENTION or lie, I understand the work has to get done but PLEASE FIX THE HOSTILE ENVIRONMENT.
Piles of work ,people dumping and screwing up other peoples work for their sick entertainment.
I have applied at every temp agency they do not even want to work with me. I was a good loyal employee if this RUNNING PEOPLE OUT OF JOBS were not going on.Who knows where we would be?

I really agree with Cheryl. Older women never even were paid decently lot's of bullies and paper work shufflers. Management did very little .
They knew how screwed up things are ----They can write off billions while charging you high interest ,people running other people off of jobs and the same people getting hurt. The ones with the BIGGEST BALLS sit there and defy management common sense and human decency.They screw up everyone else's work and lie about overtime,lie about everyone else No wonder management doesn't give a damn anymore.

What women's group is going to stand up for all those error's on credit and late charges as women were outsourced, out placed, downsized.
I think a refund is due to plenty of people.
Pension credits for years of being tossed out of jobs EMPLOYMENT AT WILL.
Not connecting the dots by management.
I reported this many times as a warning NO ONE PAID ENOUGH ATTENTION.paid well.

There's another angle to this Catch-22: What about a woman who's married (or was) to a deadbeat? She gets dragged down because her (former) spouse couldn't pay the bills. There are so many reasons why raw credit score should not have an impact (identity theft/confusion, anyone?). Any attempt to make sense of the credit bureau report would be an invasion of privacy. Just leave the credit bureau report out of things!

While I agree that poor credit scores MAY IN SOME CASES be indicators of irresponsibility, it is very important that credit scoring is used as only ONE TOOL in evaluating an employees overall worthiness or moral compass. It is the sum total of all metrics that are PREDICTORS of performance. These, indeed, are never guarantees. Saying it is a black and white standard is like saying that if someone has a dent in her car she is a poor or criminal driver. It is an irrelevant observation as it could have been the result of a hit and run accident while visiting her mother in the hospital.
-Lisa

In the past, I was turned down for managerial positions because of poor credit. What these employers don't put into consideration are your circumstances. I was married twice and was the party earning the majority of the income. So of course, I was the one given the debt. Your credit score does not define who you are, it doesn't define your workmanship, it just defines what circumstances you are in.

I am an employer and also someone who has had to go through credit checks and criminal investigations in order to get jobs in the past. I think credit is CERTAINLY indicative of a person's honesty, trustworthiness, and level of responsibility. One glitch here or there is understandable, but an overall poor credit history and low credit score are certainly issues. I have heard every excuse in the book and I was divorced at a young age, was not college educated, paid my husband alimony, he got EVERYTHING in the house and I still paid my bills...my credit did not suffer one bit because I made it a priority. If you are able bodied, you can work and creditors are also willing to work with you if you run into hard times as long as you have had good payment history in the past and you let them know. I have hit rough patches in the past and have just started a business and my cash flow is minimal...it is certainly difficult. I had to call my car company and ask if they would defer my payments...twice in the last year and because I have good credit history they did it with no penalty. If you don't pay your bills you are essentially stealing..you would not walk into a store and take a coat off the rack and walk out would you? Well, when you charge it on a credit card and then don't pay the credit card bill, you might as well have walked in, took it off the rack and walked out...either way you are stealing it. Not a popular opinion..but it is reality.

Speaking about bad debt, my husband has incurred a high amount of debt in credit cards. All these cards are in his name only. I on the other hand I have exceptional credit and NO DEBT. I wonder if his debt would affect me if we get divorced or if he files for bankruptcy? Please help. I need some piece of mind.

I have applied for several great paying jobs and all of them turn me down because of my credit score. I have discussed this with my friends. They all said, "I thought they could only do minimum checks on employees". My friends also thought that employers could not go this far. Is this legal? I will probably be able to add losing my house that I have invested 10 years into to the list. Something needs to be done about the hiring process.

My brother is divorced; he assumed all the debt in the marriage. He is running into the same issue of not being able to find a job due to a poor credit score. He was laid off in November. I think this is discrimination. Is there anything we can do to stop this practice? I am willing to join a group in effort to stop credit scores from determining employment.

Kind Regards,
Christina

I have been turned down for job opportunities not only because of my low credit score but my age as well. Due to corporate downsizing and just a few years with the company, the financial package I received was less then $10,000. After trying for a few years to get a job, and unsuccessful because of my age, I was forced to declare bankruptcy. I had depleted all of my financial resources and had no way of paying my bills. Prior to this, I paid my bills on time each month. Today, as I sit typing this, I find myself unemployed again after working a temporary job that lasted 3 weeks. I am not an irresponsible person who steals money or merchandise. I am a responsible 57 year old woman that has worked hard and was a good employee, but unfortunately I have been caught up in today's economy of no jobs and high prices. A situation that has forced many Americans into bankruptcy or bad/low credits scores. A credit score is NOT an indicator as to what kind of person you are. I believe it is an indicator that a lot of people have been hit by a situation that is beyond their control.

I was recently not given an opportunity to do some temp work (I was laid off of my job 2 months ago) because of my low credit score. My ex does not pay his child support on a regular basis. Very unfair. How am I supposed to pay my rent and bills with this issue?