Credit checks in background screening an issue

As we predicted, credit checks involvement in pre-employment background screening has started to rear it’s head in 2011. Maryland State Delegate Kirill Reznik has introduced House Bill 87 that would prohibit Maryland employers from using a person’s credit report as a background screening tool for hiring and retention decisions. The Job Applicant Fairness Act exempts financial institutions, including banks and credit unions, and law-enforcement agencies that are required to perform credit checks. Reznik told the Huffington Post that the legislation is mainly intended to help blue-collar workers. “We’re not trying to target the CFOs or the folks involved in dealing with companies’ millions of dollars,” he said. “We mean nurses, school teachers, janitors, plumbers … blue-collar workers having trouble making ends meet, so that they don’t have one more hurdle to overcome.” Reznik also said the idea that a poor credit score says anything about one’s ability to perform in a job is a myth, emphasizing that there are multiple reasons for someone to have bad credit that extend beyond their ability to perform a job successfully. As another state begins the process of removing credit screening measures from background checks, what are your thoughts? Does someone’s personal financial situation reflect their ability to perform a job?]]>