Sunday, December 27, 2009

Run Up that Card and Lose a Job...Really???

More and more in today's society, we are hearing so much emphasis on the importance of knowing your credit score. There are even singing groups serenading us to go to websites like "freecreditreport.com" in order to stay on top of our most current credit score rating. What you may not know is that several employers have made it their business to check the credit scores of applicants in order to determine their eligibility for hiring. WHAT??? Okay, on the one hand, this would make sense if you are applying for a position that involves...oh I don't know...running a bank maybe? But for the more typical corporate america positions, is it really necessary, or even fair, that employers delve into your money-moving history to see what your spending habits are? What if you were laid off and had to "rob Peter to pay Paul" in order to make ends meet? What if your family had a tragedy take place, which rendered you unable to make it day to day on your own salary? Credit reports do not contain explanations such as "Fill in your story here...". All that matters is the numbers.

So here's my question: is it fair or in some cases, legal for an employer to run a credit check and also deny employment based on the results of that credit report?

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