Use of Credit Checks to Screen Job Applicants: Do You Really Want to Know?

Checking job applicants' credit history, a common screening practice of many employers, has come under attack from state legislatures, private litigants and the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). In August 2010, Illinois enacted the Employee Credit Privacy Act, making it the fourth state to ban employers from inquiring about the credit histories of job applicants or employees, or obtaining copies of their credit reports. Three months later, Loudy Appolon, an applicant for employment at the University of Miami's Miller School of Medicine, filed a class action lawsuit against the university after it informed her she would not be hired because of her credit history. Just last month, the EEOC sued Kaplan Higher Education over its use of credit histories in the hiring process.

The common thread binding all of these challenges to the consideration of credit records in the hiring process is the claim that this practice discriminates against African Americans, Hispanics and perhaps other protected groups.

Read the entire article about using credit checks in the hiring process.