Did you know employers in most states are permitted to look at your credit history if they are considering hiring you as a potential employee? T
Our credit history can be as different as people on the street, but in Texas, employers can use that score to determine if they want hire you or not. Amber Yoo with Privacy Rights Clearinghouse says 60% of employers use credit scores in their hiring process. Phil Blair with ManPower says this can be really negative, "if you have two or three candidates to pick from, your tendency is not to pick the one with the negative credit check."
The process may not sound like a big deal, but errors are far too common, in fact one survey found 37% of Americans reported errors on their reports. And there are plenty of reasons for that, that have nothing to do with payment history according to Yoo, "There are plenty of reasons why someone would have bad credit that are totally unrelated to character such as a medical emergency, a lengthy divorce or another family problem that was just unanticipated."
There are 6 states now that are fighting against the practice and no longer allow employers to base a hiring decision on a credit score. California restricted the policy January 1st of this year. That said, there are certain jobs like managerial positions, law enforcement and financial jobs that may still require it.
The important lesson here, whether an employer wants to see your credit history or not, it's a good thing to check on from time to time. You can get a free credit report once a year...you can get yours by c
here are just a handful of states, restricting employers access to credit reports, but Texas isn't one of them.
