Should Credit Checks Be Part of an Employee Search?

I don't think it should be legal

my personal finances are not relevant to my job.  I can imagine rare situations where that argument can be made (people who handle lots of money that moves around with very little oversight), but otherwise I don't see why it's their business at all.

Same with drug testing.  What someone does in their off hours is their business -- not the companies.  If they are high at work, it's the same as drunk at work: fire them.  Otherwise it's not the company's business at all.

Sorry Michael Bennet, but I'm a real person too

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by: StrykerK2 @ Thu Jul 01, 2010 at 20:24:08 PM UTC

Hell no!

A person's credit score is by no means a measurement of competence or employability.  

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by: Fong @ Thu Jul 01, 2010 at 20:27:35 PM UTC

Personal credit scores should be off-limits

Does the company open its books to prospective hires? Methinks not.

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"Honestly, I think we should just trust our president in every decision that he makes and we should just support that." --- Britney Spears, September 2003

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by: Mucius Scaevola @ Thu Jul 01, 2010 at 22:08:57 PM UTC

now there's an interesting idea

you can check my credit when I can check your books to make sure the company isn't going under.

Sorry Michael Bennet, but I'm a real person too

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by: StrykerK2 @ Fri Jul 02, 2010 at 16:21:31 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

It makes me wonder

I know that to get Military clearance, you have to submit to a credit check.  Is there a job that you can think of that a compromising position such as debt, could possibly compromise your ability to perform the job?  By this I mean, the reason why someone with clearance undergoes a credit check is that they may be blackmailed or somehow coerced by their lack of ability to pay bills into divulging information.  I know that some companies have a lot of proprietary information, could a person with access to corporate information be blackmailed into revealing company confidential information?
While I think that the guy who runs a metal press at a factory probably doesn't have access to this information.  I wonder about people who work in HR or at an investment firm that has access to personal financial information.

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by: Song @ Fri Jul 02, 2010 at 18:27:32 PM UTC

Is this a big pervasive problem?

Have had a number of corporate jobs, never remember anyone asking me and I have worked for Fortune 100 and small start ups.

Yeah, unless its job related stay our of a person's private life, next bill please.

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by: jeffcodemo @ Fri Jul 02, 2010 at 18:44:53 PM UTC

Neither I

Which is a bit odd, as I do tech jobs that also result in my having access to a tremendous amount of information about any company I work in.

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by: Song @ Fri Jul 02, 2010 at 18:51:00 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Often the Check Is On Applicstion

and the screening occurs before any further steps.  If you have a bad or marginal report, you won't pass through the screen.  Holding a position within a large corporation would not affect this screen.  However, were you to seek another job through your own search outside of networking within your own intra-industry associates, you may not know why your great resume never got to someone who could make a decision.

A case:  I hired a product manager who held MSEE and MBA.  After the fact, the HR clerk alerted me to what she believed had been a false statement by the hire, that her report indicated neither of the two advanced degrees. The employee brought me copies of his transcripts and degrees, and I received them from the institutions as well. The reporting agency, whose report came from my budget, had erred. The hire stayed and produced as expected.  I spoke with the HR VP about the matter and the agency was dropped.  However, the lesson here is that had the hire gone through the normal application process, he would never have been interviewed by me or others within my organization.  

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by: saindenver @ Sat Jul 03, 2010 at 14:15:24 PM UTC

[ Parent ]