Credit checks and employment

[loveishope]

I accepted a position at memorial hermann and they are conducting a background check. My question is, if you have bad credit will they not hire me as a nurse.

[klone, MSN, RN]

Do you actually think that every nurse that you work with has perfect credit? No you cannot be denied a job due to the fact that you have bad credit it is discriminatory. And just to let you know, I do get out alot. Prospective employers may check your credit, but does bad credit make you a bad nurse? Some people have circumstances that are out of their control that causes them to have bad credit not by their choice.[/quote']

It may be discriminatory, but it's legal discrimination. Not all discrimination is necessarily bad. People with bad credit are not a protected class. Nobody said anything about perfect credit, but someone with a FICO of 400 and a report that shows many defaults might speak to a nurse's general trustworthiness and level of responsibility.

[llg, PhD, RN]

This worries me a lot. I have less than perfect credit. My mom cut me off of her insurance at age 18 and shortly after I began having seizures. That resulted in a lot of visits to the ER until I was diagnosed with epilepsy. I wasn't in the position to pay it and now I'm 5k in debt. I just did a credit check on myself a week ago and the only items I have in collections are my medical bills. My credit card is paid up and current. Would this exclude me from a job opportunity?

There is no definite answer to your question. It's up to each employer to establsh the standards they will use. If you are asked to give permission for a prospective employer to run a credit check on you, I would submit a written statement explaining your debt and your plans for paying it off. (without additing unnecessary details about your medical history) I would just say that you incurred some medical bills while you were 18-xx years old because you were no longer covered by your parents' insurance, but could not afford coverage on your own-- and add how you are paying down that debt.

Good luck to you.

[srercg]

very good info - and I did KNOW they CAN check your credit -its on EVERY application you fill out - and they ask for it WHEN you apply - they don't even interview you first anymore. Heck, some applications make you take TESTS online when you fill out the application - without even so much as an interview!

However, I do not think it is fair, or right, that our credit is checked if we are not applying for a job that involves money. They can gather plenty of information about whether we are a "safety" risk from our criminal background check and employment history, and so on - credit checks without direct involvement in our job should NOT be allowed.

[srercg]

I do not agree with that at all. I have a friend whose credit is so bad she had to have someone else co-sign for her apartment. She was in school for nursing. While she was in school her daughter got really sick - ongoing - and was in/out of the ER and in the hospital a lot and she herself also had to be in the hospital and ER - and of course while she was a student -she could only work part time and had no insurance. She was denied insurance I think she said because she had student loans, but not enough to pay her medical bills - so she has really bad credit. She can't seem to get interviews -and she now thinks it may be because she submits applications, and they check her credit and see all the medical bills. She's still a good person, and has always been reliable (I worked with her in another field prior to her going back to school).

So if they are making judgments about people without interviewing them based on that - that should DEFINITELY become an illegal practice.

[Nurse SMS, MSN, RN]

A credit check can be pertinent to the reliability and integrity of the individual. If the person has outstanding debt they aren't paying, the employer may question if they will meet other types of obligations. If the individual has outstanding student loans the employer can rightly assume there is going to be a licensing issue in the near future for said nurse. Unpaid student loans get reported to the BON.

I have had my credit checked at every employer since....I can't remember how long. I do know if you are denied a credit application due to the credit check they do have to inform you of that in writing by law and provide you with a copy of your credit report. I don't know if that is true for hiring decisions or not.

I can tell you my credit was absolutely ruined after a financially ugly divorce and two kids with cancer in that same time period. I managed to rebuild it in far shorter a time period than I would have thought possible once life stabilized. I have never been denied employment due to my sketchy credit history, which is thankfully in the increasingly distant past. It is nice not to have to worry about it now. If you are in debt, fix it. If your credit is poor, start making it better. It takes less time than you would think.