Empoyers Who Request Credit Reports!!!

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I've been an unemployed RN since June, 2003 and have been doing agency work which is very sporadic here in Salt Lake City. I have been to so many job interviews that I have lost count and always I get the same response from the employers. I have excellect qualifications but we hired another candidate who was more qualified. I went to an interview workshop and the lecturer told me that I was doing all the right things on an interview. I recently found out that here in Utah, many employers do credit checks on prospective employees. An attorney friend told me that pulling a credit report is included in the background check and if you sign a release form authorizing a background check, chances are, they will pull a credit report too. He also told me that employers can deny you employment if your credit is less than perfect and since my credit is less than perfect, I'm beginning to wonder if that is why I have been unable to find a job. I think this is absolutely appalling and underhanded of prospective employers. How do you pay your bills if you are not working??? I also understand that very few states allow this practice and unfortunately, I live in a state that does. Would love to hear some comments about this nasty little practice!!!!!!!!

Originally posted by sjoe

With a fraud alert, anyone (myself included) who tries to establish a new account in my name has to show two proofs of residence first--kind of a pain in the butt, since I had to send copies to the new phone and utilities accounts, but worth it to me (and it was free, of course).

I always stop and think now, whenever my SS# is requested. Do I want this person to have that information and can I find him/her/that company if problems arise later on?

We're not in Kansas anymore.

Excellent point. I totally agree. I'd rather deal with the hassles of establishing identity rather than have my re-established credit ruined once again.

BTW, the fraud alert is good for one year. You have to call them back to renew again after that. Just FYI.

I definitely don't hand out my SS# like I used to.

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Specializes in Everything except surgery.

Maybe people should start checking their EMPLOYERS credit!!!!! I have been given at least THREE BAD CHECKS from an employer, and ONE employer STILL hasn't paid me!!!!!!

Talk about trying to collect a debt! Try talking to some of the travelers who have got ripped off by the same agencies they want to check your credit!!!! Those in business aren't the ONLY ones ripped off, and I have yet to see an EMPLOYER protection agency!!!! But there sure is a protection agency for consumers, AND employees, who employer has NO intregity, or professionalism! Bah HUM BUG to credit checks by employers!

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Specializes in Med/Surg, Geriatrics.
Originally posted by Brownms46

Maybe people should start checking their EMPLOYERS credit!!!!! I have been given at least THREE BAD CHECKS from an employer, and ONE employer STILL hasn't paid me!!!!!!

Talk about trying to collect a debt! Try talking to some of the travelers who have got ripped off by the same agencies they want to check your credit!!!! Those in business aren't the ONLY ones ripped off, and I have yet to see an EMPLOYER protection agency!!!! But there sure is a protection agency for consumers, AND employees, who employer has NO intregity, or professionalism! Bah HUM BUG to credit checks by employers!

Brownie :kiss

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You know we all have many different roles that we play in life : mom sis, employee, employer, friend etc.. just because you are a great mom does not mean you are a great friend, just because you are a poor wife doesn't mean you are a poor employee etc.. we all know someone who is great to their peers and is the most horrible to their spouse or viec versa we change our behaviors to fit the roles that we play in life and I don't think credit checking is an appropriate indicator of "integrity". what about the millions of people who have a relatively sane level of debt ( a moderate car loan and maybe 2 small credit balances) and they pay their bills pretty much on time for years but suddenly lose their job because of the economy or get into an accident or have a medical emergency. As soon as they are able to, they get right back to work and start paying their bills on time again, yet their credit history is now tarnished. This type of situation SHOULD NOT prevent a person from finding employment! This is not an "exception to the rule" MANY people find themselves in this exact position and its not necessarily because of poor planning. (crap happens ya know!) Yes you still have an obligation to repay those debts and honor your committments and certainly other creditors now have a "right" to not extend credit to you as you could be seen as a "risk", but how is a person ever to get on their feet again if no one will hire them? This is what I think someone meant about "persucting the poor". Now obviously not everyone is like this, many people DO abuse the system, but ultimately if a person has a good work history and references and is qualified, that alone should tell you about the character a person displays in his role as an employee and that and that ALONE is the role that the employer needs to be concerned with.

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To everyone who says your past employment record should count, not credit, this may be of interest:

Apparently there is some law or some kind of potential liability if a past employer discloses detailed information about your past job history.

Therefore, most employers will NOT disclose detailed information about previous employees.

This is WHY prospective employers are now looking at credit reports.

I guess these reference restrictions have been around for some time, but I didn't know about it until now so, hopefully this info is useful.

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Originally posted by Peppermint

Yes,this is something a few people are developmentally delayed in understandering.Some people never reach this stage in life in which you are able to distuinguish right and wrong is not always a case where authority figures are right such as the large banks and cooperations that some people have actually grasped the concept that these are typically very greedy caniving people who are sometimes but not always right.These are the same people that post messages on BB's about nail polish and their pools.Shows you how delayed their thinking is.Too bad we cannot always mature to this level.

P.S.I also have good credit and better distuinguished wealth than those who disagree,but I also have a life-a busy life so don't look for me to feed these trolls but just this last time

Well, Peppermint. I guess you've insulted me once again, this time with your backhanded pool comment.

If you're going to insult someone, at least learn how to spell. Afterall, if you're going to call us "developmentally delayed," you might want to run a spell check on words like:

"understandering" "distuinguish" "cooperations" and "caniving"

Most of us who disagree on this thread have done so without insulting anyone. Perhaps you could do the same and review the board terms of service.

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Specializes in Case Management, Home Health, UM.
Originally posted by Brownms46

Maybe people should start checking their EMPLOYERS credit!!!!! I have been given at least THREE BAD CHECKS from an employer, and ONE employer STILL hasn't paid me!!!!!!

Right ON, sistah! :D

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In a perfect world an employer would learn all they need to know about a perspective employee from the criminal back ground check, personal & professional references and the BON. The problem is that route is dependant on the honesty of the applicant. In the real world applicants, forget (intentionally or not) to list all employers, States they have lived in recently or all States they are licensed in.

An (extreme) example:

Nurse Polly Patient-Killer just re-newed her (2 year) Oregon nursing license.

She decides to move to Arkansas (I chose at random), so she goes thru the process and gets a license and moves to AR.

What no one in OR knew is that Polly has a drug problem and had been divirting drugs.

6 months later, Polly is working in AR, stealing drugs and gets caught when she kills a patient.

Polly hops her happy tail back to OR and NEVER mentions AR to perspective employers, she tells them she was caring for a family member or something.

Her Oregon references are glowing and her un-expired Oregon license is clean (because it is too soon for AR to communicate the events to OR).

Her Oregon criminal back ground check is clean because she hasn't been investigated, charged with or convicted of any crimes in OR.

Polly gets the job and her employer doesn't find out about the situation in AR (potentially) until her next license renewal.

A credit check would (probably) have shown her living and working in Arkansas and raised red flags on her application. Any HR person worth a darn would check with the BON in AR, found out the situation and alerted the Oregon BON.

I used to be the Clinical Coord and the HR dept for an agency. We required a credit check as part of the back ground check. I never looked at the credit portion of the report, what I looked at was the persons names, addresses and employers listed. In 3 years I caught 3 people who had "forgot" to mention they had lived in other States, one had an LPN license that had just been suspended, 2 had outstanding warrents for serious crimes.

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Specializes in Med-Surg.

I have awesome credit, I always have. I can walk into a car dealership and drive out with a $30,000 that day. My credit card has a $25,000 limit on it. It's a no brainer to maintain good credit. You don't buy what you can't pay for. And you pay on time. Duh. So I don't have a problem with people checking my credit for employment.

The only problem I have is bad credit shouldn't necessarily scar a person for life. Just because someone once declaired bankruptcy doesn't mean years later, he isn't trying to make things right. A lot of 18 year olds can't handle credit and mess it up. Yes, they are thieves and dishonest, if you look at it like that. But at the age of 30 should they pay for the crimes of their youth.

I think the credit report should only be a part of the overall picture and shouldn't be used to make rash judgements about people. Good people sometimes have bad credit. Quite a few people know they messed up, aren't making excuses, and are cleaning up their act. They deserve a chance.

But I agree. One shouldn't whine and complain or make excuses for their behavior. If I had two candidates one was honest about his past mistakes, but otherwise was the best candidate, I would still choose him.

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Specializes in Med-Surg.
Originally posted by kids-r-fun

I used to be the Clinical Coord and the HR dept for an agency. We required a credit check as part of the back ground check. I never looked at the credit portion of the report, what I looked at was the persons names, addresses and employers listed. In 3 years I caught 3 people who had "forgot" to mention they had lived in other States, one had an LPN license that had just been suspended, 2 had outstanding warrents for serious crimes.

Now that's an interesting take on the whole credit check thing.

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Originally posted by 3rdShiftGuy

The only problem I have is bad credit shouldn't necessarily scar a person for life. Just because someone once declaired bankruptcy doesn't mean years later, he isn't trying to make things right. A lot of 18 year olds can't handle credit and mess it up. Yes, they are thieves and dishonest, if you look at it like that. But at the age of 30 should they pay for the crimes of their youth.

I think the credit report should only be a part of the overall picture and shouldn't be used to make rash judgements about people.

Bad credit won't necessarily scar you for life. Most items are removed after seven years, so the only people who are "scarred for life," so to speak, are those who still don't pay bills.

And don't forget why credit scores exist. It's a way to measure different degrees of "bad credit." Credit scores can range from 900 to 375, with the average falling between 620 and 650. So if you're applying for a job, that may be the average you are competing with, so to speak.

There's probably a big difference between somone who has a 600, and someone who has a 400. Just as there's probably a big difference between someone who's paid all of their bills in the last two years, and someone who hasn't --- even though both have "bad credit."

I still think the problem goes back to employers not giving detailed references on past employment. From what I've read, this is why prospective employers rely more on credit these days. In many cases, they simply don't have access to adequate information on past employment.

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