DBAV Alert and News

In the past, having a credit background check for a job at the local Wal-mart was never a part of the employment process, but now with background checking services becoming cheaper and easier to do, more and more employers are using credit checks to judge a potential employees character.

Numerous people have already lost job opportunities due to problems seen by their prospective employers when their credit background check reports arrive. But for majority of the time there really isn't a relationship between job performance and credit problems.

Employment and recruitment experts have sighted that unemployment rates throughout the country continue to stay at double digits and is still climbing. More than 35 percent of the jobless remain without jobs for more than six months at a time. This in turn would lead to unpaid bills and debt which results in bad credit. It's a vicious cycle that haunts majority of the unemployed citizens throughout the US.

Today more than 45 percent of companies now include credit background checks in their employment screening. These credit checks show a potential employees payment history, outstanding debts and may or may not include the actual credit score depending on the service they are using and the information they require.

Numerous arguments have now been raised, labor advocates have expressed concerns that an applicant's credit standing should not be used as a basis to decide if a person is qualified, some applicants are automatically denied even if they were otherwise qualified. But employment experts argue that credit histories may serve as a good meter to judge how dependable a person is or if it's possible they might be tempted to bite the hand that feeds them.

There are proposed federal legislations that would put a stop to the practice, preventing employers from using an applicant's credit history as a factor for denying an applicant a job. It is understandable for some fields of work to conduct these credit checks, like high security companies and job descriptions that involve large amount of money or valuables.