Reported by USA Today last week, half of the nation is battling over whether they should limit the use of credit checks by employers. The majority of these bills came out as a response to the pressures of the recession on American workers. Should Workers Be Judged by Their Creditworthiness? Many states are seeing the decline in credit status among their residents, either because companies were forced to conduct major layoffs or individuals endured foreclosures all of a sudden in 2008-09. “There is also concern about fairness”, says Beth Givens, director of the non-profit advocacy group Privacy Rights Clearinghouse. “Using a credit report to make a hiring decision is essentially making a value judgment,” says Givens. “The employer is saying, ‘I think you’re an irresponsible and careless person because you have a bad credit report.’” Some employers oppose the bills, because they (and their HR departments) use credit reports to decide if a job applicant was financially responsible while they were employed. This is particularly a crucial factor with jobs that require individuals to handle money on a daily basis. A research analyst from Unite Here, a hospitality labor union, points out that employers use credit reports while filling low-paying jobs with low-income workers of color. “Hiring tools that have a discriminatory impact should not have any part in our economic recovery.” Read the USA Today article
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