employer credit check

[Anonymous]

What exactly do employers look for when doing a credit check? My wife was recently offered a job pending a credit check. What kind of positive or negative information do they look for and how is it used to make a decision? How critical are they?
I know this question is open ended as I'm sure it varies for place to place, I was just wondering what others experiences are

[Anonymous]

You're right. It really depends on the job and the employer.

My father-in-law works as a contractor for Lockheed Martin, often testing military equipment. Because of the security requirements, his credit is checked annually to make sure he hasn't racked up debts that might cause him to risk illegal behavior in order to remedy the problem.

I know many government jobs that require security clearances, use that standard. It's also used as a judgement of character.

Some private corporations, with no government ties, follow suit because studies have confirmed that high credit risk can equal substandard work behavior.

[Berk]

My employer does a credit check prior to issuing you a company vehicle and most certainly before issuing you a company credit card. Before they trust you with their property they want to see how risky your behavior is. Good credit = low risk.

[Callandra]

When I applied to work in a payroll processing company they ran a credit check on me to make sure I have no outstanding debit/collections/any reason to want to steal money as I had access and ability to edit direct deposit to highly paid employee bank accounts

[ExplicitElicit]

I work for a bank doing vehicle loans and mortgages, as an financial and insurance advisor my credit was checked to be sure I could handle my own finances before telling other how to handle theirs.

My credit is checked every 3 months by them, they also provide my CR each time so it has it's perks.

[Cstone87]

The Department of Justice and I believe most Federal Agencies do the same. Remember you must consent, and an employer may not just pull a report simply because you applied.

[Anonymous]

Hey thanks for all the feed back. Wife got the job so they must have liked what they saw, its for a grocery store, since she will be handling cash and credit accounts I guess it makes sense.

I work in government, I don't recall them checking my report but it was a few years ago, I know they did all the other background checks.

A lot of what's been posted makes sense from a business perspective. I sometimes wonder how harmful the practice can be. A lot of qualified hard working people who probably need a job the most can be denied because of a few past mistakes or even worse unforeseen events like, job loss, med bills, ect. Talk about kicking someone when they're down.

[Anonymous]

OpenG - agree. It gets even more interesting... most states allow Insurance Companies to check your credit (except seven states). So talk about kick you when you are down!

[Cstone87]

New hires atDOJ are given a credit check. Its nothing new. Private employers I cant speak to continuity of how each reacts. But I believe its a case by case basis. I know the Full file disclosure including information that was "7 yearsDOLA removed" remains on the file. That's released in certain cases one of them theFCRA defines as an applicant

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@Anonymous wrote:
Hey thanks for all the feed back. Wife got the job so they must have liked what they saw, its for a grocery store, since she will be handling cash and credit accounts I guess it makes sense.

I work in government, I don't recall them checking my report but it was a few years ago, I know they did all the other background checks.

A lot of what's been posted makes sense from a business perspective. I sometimes wonder how harmful the practice can be. A lot of qualified hard working people who probably need a job the most can be denied because of a few past mistakes or even worse unforeseen events like, job loss, med bills, ect. Talk about kicking someone when they're down.

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 who apply for a position which pays more then 75K a year. 

[Anonymous]

Oops.

I wonder how many criminals have good credit. I bet Bernard Madoff had good credit.