Using credit scores for hiring employees-Good or Bad

25th April: It is quite common for majority of employers to see the credit history of their prospective employee or employees before hiring them for the job.

Nearly fifty percent of firms use credit score as a basis for hiring new employees. And it is legal too in most of the places to check the credit background of any applicant before hiring him. The point now is how fair is it to weigh any prospective employee’s credit scores to know his or her financial viability.

Credit check—what does it convey—A credit check revealing a messy or low credit score is a sign of several potential problems. Let’s put in plain words. Financial problems have a direct impact on the physical health and the personal relationships of the concerned applicant. Such a person is likely to stay distracted at his office and is going to take more sick leaves.

So, the gist is that anyone who can manage his personal credit efficiently has higher probability of being a good financial manager.

High credit score-indicator of high performance and better behavior—An employee with a high credit score has increased chances of providing better performance and better behavior at the workplace. And there is also a direct relationship between disagreeability and high credit score. That’s because those who avoid conflict are at a higher risk of being misused or taken benefit of.

Immigrants must maintain credit score--For immigrants, maintaining good credit score can go a long way in assuring opportunities of jobs. Thats because employers prefer immigrants having high credit scores to ascertain about their financial responsibility.

Credit screening—no reason for refusal—It may be worth mentioned here that employers do not have the right to reject any prospective employee with bad credit scores on the basis of any particular religion, race, sex or age.

If such a thing happens, and the people with bad credit score belong to a particular religion, race, gender or age, then it amounts to discrimination although the company might not have any intention to discriminate and its wholly accidental and unintentional.

Credit figures convey only a part of the story-Credit scores don’t convey the whole story. In fact, staying jobless for a longer duration of time or any medical ailment/crisis can jeopardize any person’s financial punctuality even though he may have been making prompt payment of bills.

Legal aspect—Employers need to get a consent in writing before seeking details of any applicant’s credit scores, states the Fair Credit Reporting Act.