States may ban credit checks on job applicants

[Care4all]

I wonder how businesses made the decision to hire in the good ole days, when our personal information was not available to them?

I never, ever had a problem discerning the character of a possible employee hire....and I can guarantee you, there are plenty with perfect credit that aren't worth a damn either.

 

[Big Black Dog]

Unless you apply for a job that involves banking - your credit rating has nothing to do with your job skills.

You are absolutely correct. You can be the best, let's say, welder, in the world and maybe be on the verge of bankruptcy and that situtation would not have any bearing on your ability to weld. However, it speaks loudly about your character and trustworthyness. You must not have ever been in a position to hire and fire employees. If you had this experience, you would look at the situation a little differently. Given the choice of hiring someone who had no bad credit history over a person on the verge of bankruptcy, I would hire the one with no bad credit history every time. It's a better business practice. He would have less outside pressures and stress in his life and therefore would be the better employee.

 

[boedicca]

You can't know that by a simple credit check - you have no idea what the circumstances were that lead up to bad points - poor judgement, medical issues, job losses etc. Even then - poor economic performance doesn't translate into poor job performance.

Agreed - I would never rely just on a simple credit check. It's better to perform a fuller background check which verifies that representations made on the resume (education, prior employment) are accurate, arrest record, etc.

Eliminating the credit portion of a background check doesn't make sense to me.

 

[Nosmo King]

If I as an employer want to check credit history so as to be better informed as to the character of an applicant, i should have every right to do so.

Do you think someone's character can be summed up by a credit check? If a person has had a tough time making ends meet, should that prevent them from succeeding, if given an honest chance?

The article said it well: It's tough enough finding a job these days...

Just another erosion of an individual's right to privacy! But some Conservatives have no problem eroding personal rights, or so it seems.

Let's say you came to me for a job. You owe everybody in town and you are frequently late with your bill payments. You are just steps away from bankruptcy. That tells me a lot about you as an employee. It tells me you don't know how to handle your resources, establish priorities, and you have trouble keeping your commitments. It also shows that you don't meet deadlines well. Having poor credit, in some cases, can be proof that you are not a person of your word. I doubt very seriously that I would give you a job. Being a conservative has nothing to do with it and I'm not sure how you can throw this into the debate.

You have jumped to a huge conclusion there. Maybe the prospective employee has been out of work for some time. Maybe those resources just have not been there. Priorities might have very well been feeding a family, making sure their health is still maintained as well as one can, keeping a roof over their heads.

It appears that to you, at least, bad credit can only have one reason: bad money management. But the reality of an individual's situation is not always that cut and dried.

And I mention the Conservative stance only to illustrate the Conservative penchant for protecting commerce over the individuals right to privacy.

 

[chanel]

How could they stop them? The prospective employer doesn't have to give a reason not to hire someone.

 

[boedicca]

I wonder how businesses made the decision to hire in the good ole days, when our personal information was not available to them?

I never, ever had a problem discerning the character of a possible employee hire....and I can guarantee you, there are plenty with perfect credit that aren't worth a damn either.

We're a more mobile culture now. In the old days, people hired their neighbors.

I started using background checks after getting burned a couple of times. It wasn't a happy decision to make, but it has helped in a few situations.

 

[boedicca]

And I mention the Conservative stance only to illustrate the Conservative penchant for protecting commerce over the individuals right to privacy.

What about the employer's individual right to vet a candidate to whom they are going to entrust company resources and customer relationships?

An employer doesn't owe somebody a job - it's up to the candidate to prove they are the best person.

There is no way I am going to hand over access to the company bank account to somebody I have not background checked. Period.

 

[Nonelitist]

Shouldn't we require the same checks on our elected officials?

Sure.... if we can also have tax cheat checks. Half of Obamas cabinet "forgot" to pay their taxes for years.

 

[manifold]

How could they stop them? The prospective employer doesn't have to give a reason not to hire someone.

This is about banning them from doing a credit check.

I'm pretty sure that can be stopped.

 

[Nosmo King]

And I mention the Conservative stance only to illustrate the Conservative penchant for protecting commerce over the individuals right to privacy.

What about the employer's individual right to vet a candidate to whom they are going to entrust company resources and customer relationships?

An employer doesn't owe somebody a job - it's up to the candidate to prove they are the best person.

There is no way I am going to hand over access to the company bank account to somebody I have not background checked. Period.

Most responsible adults jealously guard their personal information. It's a wise and prudent thing to do. A credit check is some of the most intimate parts of someones personal information. Right along with their health history.

What assurances does a prospective employee have that their personal information will remain private? Does a credit check give you all the information you need to make a responsible decision? Does a credit check reveal the real reasons someone has for finding themselves with poor credit? Does it explain all the circumstances? Would a criminal record check reveal more about someone's character than their ability, or inability to pay bills in a timely manner?

 

[xotoxi]

Having poor credit, in some cases, can be proof that you are not a person of your word.

Having poor credit, in other cases, can be proof that you are one of the 10% of Americans who are unemployed, and thus are in need of a job in order to pay their bills.

 

[xotoxi]

Most responsible adults jealously guard their personal information. It's a wise and prudent thing to do. A credit check is some of the most intimate parts of someones personal information. Right along with their health history.

Excellent point.

Maybe employers should be able to review a potential employee's medical record.

 

[Nonelitist]

If I as an employer want to check credit history so as to be better informed as to the character of an applicant, i should have every right to do so.

Do you think someone's character can be summed up by a credit check? If a person has had a tough time making ends meet, should that prevent them from succeeding, if given an honest chance?

The article said it well: It's tough enough finding a job these days...

Just another erosion of an individual's right to privacy! But some Conservatives have no problem eroding personal rights, or so it seems.

Personal rights include the rights to conduct business the way i choose and to hire who i want to hire.

 

[Nonelitist]

Having poor credit, in some cases, can be proof that you are not a person of your word.

Having poor credit, in other cases, can be proof that you are one of the 10% of Americans who are unemployed, and thus are in need of a job in order to pay their bills.

Having poor credit usually... not always... means that you have lived and purchased beyond your means. That is a flaw in character... or at least in decision making. I have been there and done that... so I know.

Learned my lesson though and thankfully it has been years ago so it doesn't affect me anymore... but it did for a while.

 

[xotoxi]

If I as an employer want to check credit history so as to be better informed as to the character of an applicant, i should have every right to do so.

Do you think someone's character can be summed up by a credit check? If a person has had a tough time making ends meet, should that prevent them from succeeding, if given an honest chance?

The article said it well: It's tough enough finding a job these days...

Just another erosion of an individual's right to privacy! But some Conservatives have no problem eroding personal rights, or so it seems.

Personal rights include the rights to conduct business the way i choose and to hire who i want to hire.

You can conduct business the way you choose...but you may have to do it without a credit check.

A person has more of a RIGHT to protect their personal information more than a business owner has the RIGHT to access it.

 

[Nosmo King]

If I as an employer want to check credit history so as to be better informed as to the character of an applicant, i should have every right to do so.

Do you think someone's character can be summed up by a credit check? If a person has had a tough time making ends meet, should that prevent them from succeeding, if given an honest chance?

The article said it well: It's tough enough finding a job these days...

Just another erosion of an individual's right to privacy! But some Conservatives have no problem eroding personal rights, or so it seems.

Personal rights include the rights to conduct business the way i choose and to hire who i want to hire.

Sometimes the right to run a business the way you choose infringes on other people's rights. A business should be regarded as an individual in that there are some behaviors of an individual result in injury, destruction or even death.

Business is not the entity needing protection here. The individual citizen is.

 

[chanel]

We have rental properties and run credit checks on prospective tenants. Will this be banned as well? Why would a landlord sign a lease with someone who does not/cannot pay their bills?

 

[xotoxi]

Having poor credit usually... not always... means that you have lived and purchased beyond your means.

Do you typically recommend that a employed person who owns a home and has a mortgage, that suddenly is layed off and is without income, should immediately sell their home?

 

[xotoxi]

We have rental properties and run credit checks on prospective tenants. Will this be banned as well? Why would a landlord sign a lease with someone who does not/cannot pay their bills?

Will the prospective tenants be your employees?

Or will they be leasing something that belongs to you?

 

[Coyote]

We have rental properties and run credit checks on prospective tenants. Will this be banned as well? Why would a landlord sign a lease with someone who does not/cannot pay their bills?

Isn't that a bit different?