Job Seekers Angered by Employers' Credit Background Checks

A recent article entitled "Job Applicant Credit Checks by Employers on the Rise" has invoked the ire of both American and overseas readers alike.

According to a survey cited in the article, within the last several years the overall number of polled employers using credit background checks has risen steadily risen from 42% to 47%.

Background Credit Check

The fact that nearly half of the employers in the US are conducting credit checks on prospective employees has significant ramifications on a broad scale. Through this reporter's various on-line and personal contacts, US consumers' are clearly angry with the background credit check trend.

Perhaps highest among many concerns: every time an employer prospect (or legitimate creditor) runs a credit check, this measurably lowers the employee's credit rating. Assuming a job seeker applies for work with many employers running credit checks, in the end their credit score could be significantly lowered. Further efforts at seeking work afterwards would effectively be ruined.

Senior & Executive Job Candidates Hit Worst by Job Credit Checks

While most employers conduct background credit checks for work involving financial responsibility (for example, budgeting, accounting, or positions handling sensitive credit-card information), almost half of the survey respondents mentioned in the study are checking candidates applying for senior and executive postings.

Job Seekers Speak Out

One anonymous source volunteered their obvious dissatisfaction with the credit check practice:

"Why AM I NOT surprised! US Companies have a history of treating employees regardless of performance or ability but on need to satisfy the Stock Price, need to find a "back door" way to improve the bottom line, etc. Its a me, me, me corporate perspective. So since credit history and the ability to maintain a "good enough" credit score is obviously a way to openly discriminate against "those people" and that means if the company hiring manager does not like jews, or blacks, or hispanics be damn sure the dirt ball will hide behind a credit score rating as the reason why you were "not a good fit".

It comes down to the same thing: When jobs are scarce they can choose from 100 times more candidates than normal. supply and demand: the supply of workers is low, the demand by job applicants very high so the hiring authority has free will to design any half assed discriminatory basis for rejecting candidates. The game plan is hire people who are highly qualified but at a much lower rate of pay and use the lie of " normally we could not hire you but since you have such high qualification relative to those with higher credit scores we can appeal the decision and see if the VP of HR can make an exception. Now they got you on the hook ready to beg. then the scum bags come back with normally the pay range for the position is 80- 110 k salary and with your years of experience you normally would be eligible to compete at the high end BUT the VP says since you are a risk hire the best we can offer is 85, its not the bottom because "I " went to bat for you.

The other scenario is "They" will hire only if you meet a minimum credit score value and then they will peg the credit rating to a salary level. those with higher scores have the right to more money BUT the scum bag HR folks will only hire the lower score candidates to get talent at the lowest possible salary range.

Americans especially those of color, "those" religious peoples, and hispanics or other less than master race types (and anybody can be targeted white males, older (over 40 yrs old) depending on the race, creed or color of the hiring authority.

I have already written to President Obama about this problem with the demand being put a moratorium on use of credit scores for jobs were the risk of low credit does not have impact on the ethical mindset of the hired employee. There are certain industries that have openly noted that a poor credit score will be the basis for not offering employment. for instance, State Farm Insurance will NOt hire anyone with a low credit score to be an agent because they claim the Industry agency FINRA has a standard that State Farm Insurance MUST adhere to.

It is no different than blacklisting people based on a secret bias. So NOt a single person is guaranteed eligibility because what is a good enough credit rating is more than just a number. It can be you must be at 650 rating or better for the last 5 years to qualify so if you had a transition year (divorce, layoff, high med bills due to illness etc) these scum bags in HR will secretly discriminate against YOU. They will NEVER disclose this Credit score rationale or claim that it was the reason why the rejected were no good enough. These types of discrimination are already the norm in many corporations. the real reasons are never DOCUMENTED because IF they kept such records a situation would eventually arise where a class action lawsuit would occur causing a drop in stock price, bad market reputation and or loss of Federally based contracts so be damn sure the HR Departments of 85% of the corporations and even smaller private companies are in fact the SS of the new world.

If you think the possibility of this type of discrimination is remote or "can't happen here" then good luck, sooner or later it will happen to you."

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR: John Melendez is a freelance writer reporting on technology, the environment, sustainability, alternative energies and "green" issues. John Melendez is a writer for hire. To email him, go to http://www.emailmeform.com/fid.php?formid=19595

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