Being denied employment because of a credit check :(

Jo Dirt · Aug 9, 2007

You are NOT saving money by paying the minimum each month and putting the rest into savings. The longer you go not paying off these debts the more you will be eaten alive with interest fees. Do the math and figure it out.
You need SERIOUS financial counseling.

By the way, home loans are much more reasonable than credit card loans. With home loans you are paying off debt toward something going up in value, or at least something that will still be worth what you paid for it down the road, which is a lot more responsible than paying mounds of interest on things that are worthless as soon as you buy them, like clothes and groceries.

If you can't understand the difference I doubt any amount of explaining will matter.

A word to the wise is enough, and many words won't fill a bushel.

Freedom42 · Aug 9, 2007

By the way, home loans are much more reasonable than credit card loans. With home loans you are paying off debt toward something going up in value, or at least something that will still be worth what you paid for it down the road, which is a lot more responsible than paying mounds of interest on things that are worthless as soon as you buy them, like clothes and groceries.

Good point. Only borrow money for things that appreciate in value (like a house or an education). Use cash for everything else.

gr8rnpjt, RN · Aug 9, 2007

I would REALLY like to know if the OP was told that they did not get the job due to having bad credit? Or could there have been another reason and you just don't know what it is so you assume that if a credit check was done, THAT must be the reason?

This scares me to death. I recently applied at a company with great benefits including profit sharing bonuses every 3 months. I was told they would be running a credit and background check. I know I have no skeletons in my closet and no legal problems (except for my current pending divorce) but nothing on my nursing or drivers licenses not even a parking ticket!

But, my credit sucks. I was married to a crack head which I was not aware of until after I became pregnant with our son. I had had some problems with bouncing checks and this man told me that I was unorganized and why didn't I put HIS name on the accounts too and he would take care of the finances? SOOOO glad I didn't do that. After I put him in rehab he was in a 12 step program and told me that he had not only stolen my debit card and taken out hundreds of dollars, he had also started taking my credit cards and stole THOUSANDS in cash advances within the last year. I used to be the kind of person that never looked at the statements just looked at the total and wrote out a check. Within the first year of my marriage I had gone from carrying a $15,000 balance on 3 cards to owing$50,000 on these 3 cards! He financially wiped me out and bankrupted me. I had to file bankruptcy, put him through rehab, and try to get my lilfe back in order during my pregnancy.

I have come out of it ok, I don't use credit cards anymore, but I DO live paycheck to paycheck and I don't always pay my bills on time! To add insult to injury, this deadbeat is garnishing my wages for $250 a month spousal support, AND I HAVE CUSTODY!!!!

Anyway, after living this nightmare for the last 6 years, I would hate to think my future employer will turn me down for a job because of my credit history!!!!

Home Health Columnist / Guide · Aug 9, 2007

pre-employment background checks / screening for healthcare ...

why conduct a pre-employment background check?
surveys indicate that 37 percent of those seeking employment overstate previous responsibilities, job titles, or school degrees
one-fourth of submitted resumes include at least one major fabrication
ten percent of job applicants lie about their criminal records
eleven percent of job seekers misrepresent the reasons for departing their previous jobs to hide the fact that they were fired
more than half of hr professionals report their organizations have been named as defendants in at least one employment-based lawsuit*

about the oig/gsa exclusion program

for many years the congress of the united states has worked diligently to protect the health and welfare of the nation's elderly and poor by implementing legislation to prevent certain individuals and businesses from participating in federally-funded health care programs. the oig, under this congressional mandate, established a program to exclude individuals and entities affected by these various legal authorities, contained in sections 1128 and 1156 of the social security act, and maintains a list of all currently excluded parties called the list of excluded individuals/entities.

bases for exclusion include convictions for program-related fraud and patient abuse, licensing board actions and default on health education assistance loans.

the effect of an exclusion (not being able to participate) is:

no payment will be made by any federal health care program for any items or services furnished, ordered, or prescribed by an excluded individual or entity. federal health care programs include medicare, medicaid, and all other plans and programs that provide health benefits funded directly or indirectly by the united states (other than the federal employees health benefits plan). for exclusions implemented prior to august 4, 1997, the exclusion covers the following federal health care programs: medicare (title xviii), medicaid (title xix), maternal and child health services block grant (title v), block grants to states for social services (title xx) and state children's health insurance (title xxi) programs.
no program payment will be made for anything that an excluded person furnishes, orders, or prescribes. this payment prohibition applies to the excluded person, anyone who employs or contracts with the excluded person, any hospital or other provider where the excluded person provides services, and anyone else. the exclusion applies regardless of who submits the claims and applies to all administrative and management services furnished by the excluded person.
there is a limited exception to exclusions for the provision of certain emergency items or services not provided in a hospital emergency room. see regulations at 42 cfr 1001.1901©

additional information is available in the special advisory bulletin on the effect of an exclusion

there is a growing body of case law (commonly referred to as: negligent hiring practices) that holds companies responsible for the misdeeds of employees working on their premises or working elsewhere on the company's behalf who, based upon their prior history, could have been expected to act irresponsibly or illegally.

under this case law anyone injured by an employee's actions at work (another employee, customer, or a member of the public) would be in a position to collect damages from the company as a result of its negligent hiring practices. the company's only real defense in such a suit is to show that it used the "best available means" to check the employee's background prior to hiring.

we now have to add a terrorist search to sanction check on all staff employed and doctors admitting homecare agency as part of medicare regs ---- have 6,000 docs in our database; hired part time staff to keep up with work.

preventing workplace violence from negligent hiring in healthcare.

nursing spectrum

llg, PhD, RN · Aug 9, 2007

One of the reasons that employers do a credit check is to avoid having employees who under court orders to have their wages garnished. Apparently, that is a real inconvenience (and added expense) for an employer and they want to avoid having to do that.

The OP might have a problem getting hired in spite of good credit score if the employer feels her amount of debt is so high that she may soon be unable to pay it and they will be put in the position of having to collect the money from her (garnishments) to pay her debts for her. Also, they don't want employees who are so irresponsible with their money that they will be put in that position of having to collect the money from them (garnishments) to pay their personal debts for them. They want employees who can handle their financial affairs without requiring their employer's involvement.

time4meRN · Aug 9, 2007

Hi, I graduated last year..In order to get the job, they told me that they have to run a credit check on me..I know that I owe a lot of money to creditors but what my potential employer does not know is that I have a bank account with a lot of savings..The way I manage money is that I dont pay off my creditors all at once..I just pay off the minimum amount every month and save money..It is like paying off a home where people have savings but they just dont pay off the home all at once..My credit rating is excellent..I am at 780..I pay 6% interest on my credit cards..
My potential employer thinks I making too little to support myself so I got denied the job....And also my potential employer does not know that I am living with my mom now and she lets me live there for free..
Now, this credit checking thing to get hired,is kind of bad, if they dont have the whole picture!

Not that it's any of my buisness, but , was it a nursing job you were going for? I don't have credit problems but, the way the economy is and the way people use credit cards today, there are many people a pay day away from poor credit or worse. Tha'ts something I'll never understand, a us citizen can't get a job because they owe money, how can loans be payed back if you can't get a job, also, I have a friend who is on medical disability, she wants to start a Mary K buisness, but she can't because she will loose her disability. BUT, that's her plan, if she can get the buisness going well, then she won't need the money from the state. But, I work in the ER, a family that comes in often has trouble getting help because they don't have an address (they lost their job beacuse the co. they worked for went over seas). BUT... an illeagal comes in , has free education, has a card for health care etc... Go figure,,,,,,think we need a new "Big Brother"! :madface: Best of luck to you in your search.

ukstudent · Aug 9, 2007

all financial advice aside - this situation STILL makes no sense. OP does not have bad credit. This IS for a hospital job right? You aren't a nursing student wanting a bank job or something?
Geez - most hospitals I think would like the idea you need some $ to pay bills. Hey more OT you are willing to work! :chuckle
Edited to add: perhaps this thread is really the answer and the hospital pulled at straws for a denial of employment https://allnurses.com/forums/f8/terminated-last-2-jobs-what-should-i-do-238991.html

I think you might be onto something Mommy Nurse2b. Being fired from the first 2 jobs is more likely the reason for denial of employment than a high dept with a good credit score.

Jo Dirt · Aug 9, 2007

To add insult to injury, this deadbeat is garnishing my wages for $250 a month spousal support, AND I HAVE CUSTODY!!!!
Anyway, after living this nightmare for the last 6 years, I would hate to think my future employer will turn me down for a job because of my credit history!!!!

They do have something called an innocent spouse clause. Wonder if it could help you in this case?

I've got almost $5,000 in medical bills that have gone to collection. I would have never incurred these debts if I had understood the so-called health insurance I had would not pay for it. So, I'm rather bitter about this and too stubborn and angry to even attempt to pay anything on them.

But if it came down to it I would want to know how they expect you to pay bills with no job. That is like when they take a driver's license and still insist you go to work for x amount of time to prove you deserve to have it back. Go to work on what, a pogo stick?

gr8rnpjt, RN · Aug 9, 2007

They do have something called an innocent spouse clause. Wonder if it could help you in this case?

This can not be applied in my case. Innocent spouse has to do with income tax.

We both filed in Domestic Relations Court, he for spousal support, and I for child support since I have physical custody of our son.

I make more than him because he was too lazy to work a full time job and only took jobs that did not requre a urine drug screen (wonder why?) So, me being a nurse, I make more, he makes nothing, even though I had to move him out of my home due to daily physical, mental, verbal and emotional abuse of my family, he gets protected by domestic relations law and there is no recourse for an injured spouse to prevent this. My attorney actually appealed the spousal support and the judge said, "I can't hear any of this. He can be a lousy parent and a bad husband and he is still entitled to that money":angryfire:angryfire:angryfire

Altra, BSN, RN · Aug 9, 2007

I think you might be onto something Mommy Nurse2b. Being fired from the first 2 jobs is more likely the reason for denial of employment than a high dept with a good credit score.

Ahhh ... now the picture becomes clearer ...

Thanks for the link, Mommy Nurse 2B and ukstudent.

Meriwhen, ASN, BSN, MSN, RN · Aug 9, 2007

My credit rating is excellent..I am at 780..I pay 6% interest on my credit cards..

What you don't realize is that realize that in the long run, you'd save more money if you took your savings to pay down a lot of your credit card debt.

Think about it:

Most savings accounts top out at 4-5% interest (there's almost nothing that pays more than than that without you going into the world of CDs, money markets, etc.).
Meanwhile, you're paying 6% interest PER CREDIT CARD. And based on your post, it sounds like you have a lot more in credit card debt than you have money in that savings account.
Neverminding that the minute you're late with a payment, almost every credit card will jack your interest up to the maximum allowed (around 22%), no exceptions. Put 22% against 4% and see how that comes out.

So...you're throwing away excess money by paying interest to the credit card company that a. you don't have to pay if you paid your debt down faster; and b. the interest generated from your savings account isn't covering.

If you think what you're doing is the best thing for you, then I guess that's what you have to do. I don't know any more about your financial circumstances except what you've shared here. But as everyone's mentioned, credit score isn't everything. A lot of places do consider how much unsecured debt you are also carryin because they want to know if they're taking a risk on you. After all, if you've got very large amounts of debt, they might be hesitant to place you in a position where you have easy access to money/valuable merchandise (the logic being that it might be a temptation, especially if your financial situation worsens).

No, I can't say that's a fair attitude...but that's the attitude a lot of places have.

Credit rating is only one factor that they look at. I know people with horrible ratings and yet more cash on hand than I'll ever have because they have zero debt. Go fig.

sjt9721, BSN, RN · Aug 9, 2007

Think about it:
Most savings accounts top out at 4-5% interest (there's almost nothing that pays more than than that without you going into the world of CDs, money markets, etc.).
Meanwhile, you're paying 6% interest PER CREDIT CARD. And based on your post, it sounds like you have a lot more in credit card debt than you have money in that savings account.
Neverminding that the minute you're late with a payment, almost every credit card will jack your interest up to the maximum allowed (around 22%), no exceptions. Put 22% against 4% and see how that comes out.

When I was working on paying off my debt, I set aside "x" amount of money each month to go toward the cards. The cards with the lowest APR got the minimum amounts, and the card with the highest got all the rest of the "x" amount. I was never late.

Example: $1000 per month to credit cards. Cards A, B, & C had low rates and I paid them the minimums: $50, $100, & $150. The other $700 went toward Card D since it had the highest rate. When Card D got paid off, the $1000 was divided the same way among Cards A, B, & C.

MBNA evidently got tired of only getting the minimum. They jacked my rate from 2.9% to 22%. When I called, they said it was done because I wasn't "making enough progress" on my debt. Guess they weren't satisfied getting minimal interest from me. I promptly called one of my other card companies & negotiated a deal to transfer that balance. Now MBNA doesn't get any of my money!