Your potential employer may be willing to overlook any rough patches, but your chances of getting hired if you get caught in an exaggeration or outright lie are slim to none. Subscribe to get the week’s most important news in your inbox every week. Lainie Petersen lives in Chicago and is a full-time freelance writer. "House Committee Passes Bill to Ban Employment Credit Checks." David Reischer, founder of LegalAdvice.com, says he runs credit checks and criminal background checks on all prospective employees. An employer credit check is considered a “soft” pull and won’t impact your credit score. "Credit Check Law: For Employees."

What is looked at when performing a credit check? Her work has appeared in a number ...  Read more, Tags: credit cards, credit reports, Applying, hiring. The act of an employer requesting an employment-check credit report will not affect your credit score, negatively or positively. © 

is a freelance writer and frequent contributor to CreditCards.com. 3. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) enforces the FCRA. A credit check could determine your fate, depending on the position and where it’s based. To find out if an employer does a credit check for bank tellers, do a little investigating. Employment credit checks are legal under federal law. If you apply for a credit card, the lender may use a different credit score when considering your application for credit. All Rights Reserved. Employers want to know you can handle your own responsibilities before entrusting you to a position. You're dealing with money, peoples accounts and personal information. Exceptions include police officers and executive-level candidates with fiduciary responsibilities. Chicago and Philadelphia also restrict the use of employment credit checks. Since the nature of fraud is concealment, this statistic could be just the tip of the iceberg. If you have negative information on your credit report and decide to apply for a job at a bank, be prepared to explain your situation .Explain to the hiring manager that your credit report contains negative items before he runs the credit check and tell him what you have done to rectify the situation. With a Credit One Bank Platinum Visa®, you'll earn 1% cash back on eligible purchases, terms apply, and receive many benefits like free online access to your credit score and $0 Fraud Liability. If possible, obtain copies of your credit reports and correct errors before you apply for jobs. Prepare a brief explanation of potential issues the employer might see and explain what you've done to rectify the situation. That, perhaps, is the most common myth that we hear,” Griffin says. Let me reiterate: Potential employers CANNOT see your credit score.

Otherwise, if someone is applying for a position such as salesperson or delivery driver and has “marginal credit, but the rest is good, I tell them not to worry about it,” Sawyer says. Currently, eleven states limit the use of credit checks/reports for employment screening purposes: California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Nevada, Oregon, Vermont and Washington. Those who are exempt include banks and financial institutions and law enforcement agencies.

For example, an employer can't use one standard for female candidates and a different standard for male candidates. For example, a candidate whose credit history includes a bankruptcy could suggest that the candidate lacks responsibility by not meeting past financial obligations. Here’s what they’re looking for. Accessed June 27, 2020. If an employer is located in one of the states or municipalities that restricts credit checks, or is hiring employees who live in one of the places that does so, it’s important that they understand exactly which state’s law applies, McLean says. What will a prospective employer look for? If so, you may want to consider the state of your credit before rushing off to that first interview.

She has a long career in business and media, primarily in marketing, online content and regulatory compliance. Their rationale was that it’s neither fair nor sensible to punish people for past credit mistakes, especially if the penalty affects their ability to earn money in the future. Employers must first obtain written permission from the individual on a standalone disclosure form. A recent survey by CareerBuilder found that 72 percent of employers conduct background checks on prospective employees and include a credit check in 29 percent of cases. The District of Columbia. As of September, the freezes are free. “If you struggle to pay your bills, they may want to make sure you’re not susceptible to bribery.”. Information such as your marital status and your birthdate. In a credit check, a prospective employer will receive typical credit report information such as your name; address; employer; open lines of credit, such as mortgages, credit card and auto loans; amount you owe on those lines of credit; late payments; and whether you’ve filed bankruptcy in the past 10 years.

I don’t like seeing large student loan debt,” he says. This way, you can check for any issues or errors and dispute them before an employer sees them. Copyright © 2008-2020, Glassdoor, Inc. “Glassdoor” and logo are proprietary trademarks of Glassdoor, Inc. candidate’s sense of financial responsibility, 10 Powerful Things You Can Do with Review Intelligence™, 5 Trends Reshaping How We Work After COVID-19, Why It's Important To Maintain An Insatiable Curiosity, 4 Hot Benefits that Candidates Can't Resist.

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Credit reports, which detail your history of borrowing and paying back money, can shed some light on how you will perform as an employee. Member FDIC. Since bank employees often have access to both cash and sensitive personal data belonging to bank customers, banks often place a high priority on the results of employee credit checks. Another misconception is that, when an employer pulls your credit report, it lowers your credit score.