Dealing with Employers Who Perform Credit Checks?

Rick asks: "I recently accepted a Director level position at a small, 40 person, technology company. On my first day, I was provided with all of the standard employment paperwork such as the W2, NDA, healthcare, etc., as well as a document that is to provide my permission for the Company to do a comprehensive background check on me, including a credit history check. I am now in a stalemate position with my employer in regards to this background check document. I have refused to sign on the grounds that my personal credit information is of no business to the company and that they have no basis of need. The company argument (COO level so far, CEO is next) is that the company instituted this policy over a year ago for all existing employees and new hires, and to maintain consistency, every employee must comply. The company also maintains that the information allows them to identify potential problems with candidates or employees, in that people who cannot manage their own finances may not be good employees, or that those with troublesome credit may be more likely to steal from the company. The COO used less direct terms, but ultimately that was the argument. Have Slashdot readers successfully negotiated out of a mandatory employee credit check in the past? What arguments did you use?"

Comments

Here..

[Maeryk]

It is required for any contractor on the campus.

They whacked this on us last year as "new and different".

They included, but were not limited to:

Drug testing (one time, so far, not random)
Drivers License History/driving record check. (they did that one)
Credit Check (they claim that it is due to the chance of getting a corporate credit card)
Criminal background check.
"other checks as necessary".

That one, "other" I specifically crossed out when I signed my "permission' to do those.

My Company (the contracting firm) basically said "Do it, or leave".. so no, I had no real choice. The fact that I live in an "employment at will" state doesnt help either.. means i can be fired any time for any thing.

(Course, my company also believes that I can be terminated for things on my personal computer at home if I connect to their VPN network and have as much as threatened to do so. Therefore I refuse to connect from my home PC, even if it is required by my job.. I tell em I will do it at 8:00 am the next morning when I get on-site.)

Its an ugly thing.. but I strongly suspect that you wont be able to do much about it..

I want to see mandatory drug testing for congress, with printed pass/fail results, personally.

Maeryk

BAD...Credit scores reflect frequent credit checks

[siskbc]

The problem here, beyond the obvious privacy issues, is that people can be adversely affected by credit checks. I mean, where does this stop? Currently, the more credit checks you have, the worse your credit score becomes. So, if this becomes the norm, and companies start doing this even for potential hires (as they very well may), then there are going to be some people seeing their credit rating downgraded simply because they were looking for a job. It won't make an enormous difference, maybe, but even a small difference can make a difference over the life of, say, a mortgage.

This wouldn't be so bad if getting a house didn't routinely follow getting a job...

Sabotaged Credit History

[AnalogDiehard]

My soon-to-be-ex-wife ruined my credit history behind my back. To make a long story short, I have $20,000 in credit card theft (marital debt and I'm stuck with it!), an identity theft alert when she was caught attempting to open another card in my name while they were trying to serve papers against her, and collection notices when she neglected the bills while she was flying around the country seeing boyfriends behind my back. This was not a happy experience and is not anything I would wish on my worst enemy. I even have to take the drastic step of applying for a new social security number because it is in her hands where she can do more damage with it.

Privacy issues aside, the danger is too great that interviewers reviewing my credit history would make the wrong assumption that I incurred all that debt and that I would lose the job offer without being given any chance to explain the report. I would simply tell the employer that my credit history has suffered severe damage from my spouse and that I have no choice but to vigorously protect that information. If they protest further I will simply state that I am not open to negotiations on that topic.

Re:employment at will

[Anonymous Coward]

As a former employee of Fair Isaac Company (the 'F' and 'I' in FICO), I read too many horror stories about !@#$ in peoples credit scores ... made all the worse because a/ most people don't know that their credit rating has taken a hit a b/ because most of the time it is damn near impossible to fix.

As an example, if you want to screw someone over, simply run several dozen credit requests against an individual (pretty trivial exercise). That alone screws them up.

Next, you just don't know - unless you request it - what's on your record. I've been turned over to collection agencies twice - and both times the companies in question owed me money. Letters with the name of large legal firms were neccessary to get the situation resolved. And that's becuase I was aware of the issues.

One of the more frightening 'hits' people take is through their good buddies, landlords. They move, believe they have closed their utility/phone/whatever, and the landlord doesn't forward the request for the last bill. The billing companies have no forwarding address ...

For comparison, the MIB (Medical Information Bureau) is only available to a select few companies. And they have a nifty policy ... you can use the information so obtained to start an investigation of your own, but cannot rely on the information they provide alone. Like, if someone applies for life insurance, and the insurer's query returns the minor detail they've had three heart attacks in the last year. If the insurer then requests the reports from the hospitals, well and good. If they deny you based on the MIB info alone, and get caught, the fines and possible loss of access are staggering.

Unfortuantely, a similar idea for credit ratings was shot down. The companies who use these credit scores benefit in two ways by not verifying a 'bad' score - no investigation cost, and, for most of them, charging a higher interest rate.

So the industry is set up to fuck your rating, and reluctant to do anything about it. I'm with the original poster, tell the company to get stuffed. It's the old "It came from the computer, so it must be correct!" whine of people who don't want to take responsibility for a system they know is broken.