credit checks
Philadelphia prohibits use of credit checks in employment screening
legislation makes it illegal for employers to use the credit information of Philadelphia job applicants or employees – unless covered by an exception – for employment decisions such as hiring, firing, or promotion. Exceptions include: to any law enforcement agency or financial institution; to the City of Philadelphia with respect to efforts to obtain information…
Read MoreFCRA Compliant Background Checks: How to manage federal and state FCRA regulations
Federal Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) is designed to protect individuals by promoting accuracy, fairness, and privacy of information in the files of every Consumer Reporting Agency (CRA). Most CRAs are credit bureaus that gather and provide information about individuals – such as if they pay their bills on time or have filed bankruptcy –…
Read MoreStudy: Bans on employment credit checks leads to higher unemployment
In the past decade, most states have banned or have considered banning the use of credit checks in hiring decisions. Using Equifax data on employer credit checks, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York Consumer Credit Panel/Equifax, and the LEHD Origin-Destination Employment data, Harvard Kennedy School showed that these bans increased employment of residents in…
Read MoreFood chains under fire for wage theft, illegal background checking
Restaurant and food-delivery chains have been under fire lately, as Chipotle, Waffle House and Papa John’s Pizza have all been slapped with lawsuits recently. Four current and former Papa John’s franchises reached a settlement with New York employees and former employees after admitting that they had not paid fair wages to 250 workers in the…
Read MoreThings employers must consider when taking adverse action
adverse action.” Adverse action can also be letting go an existing employee, or refusing promotions based on similar information. For the sake of this blog post, however, we will focus on taking adverse action during the hiring process. Taking adverse action is legal, so long as you do not discriminate against a candidate in your…
Read MoreWhy do employers check credit?
New York City’s decision to ban all employment credit checks this past spring, we thought it would be a good idea to revisit that question: Why DO employers check credit scores for potential employees, and what information do they get when they pull a credit report? First of all, when an employer pulls a credit…
Read MoreReminders for employers regarding Fair Credit Reporting Act compliance
More and more employers have fallen victim to lawsuits brought on by former applicants for violating the Fair Credit Reporting Act, a federal law that requires employers to take specific actions when conducting credit checks in order to allow job applicants a fair chance at the position for which they are applying. As a reminder,…
Read MoreNew York City passes pre-employment credit-check ban
strictest pre-employment credit checking law in the country. In a 47-3 vote, the New York City Council passed a bill preventing employers in the city from running credit checks on job applicants. “Millions of Americans who have bad credit would also be great employees,” said Brad Lander, who sponsored the bill. “What they need to…
Read MoreWhat types of background checks can employers conduct?
Criminal background checks Criminal background checks are common in employment situations in which the employee will have access to company financial information or will be working with vulnerable populations. Oftentimes, a company will reconsider hiring the person if they are applying for a position related to a previous felony conviction. In order to conduct criminal…
Read MoreComcast in trouble for more than just poor customer service and fee hikes
According to Comcast’s corporate policy, customers signing up for their service must undergo credit reporting inquiries in order to begin service, or else pay a $50 fee to have this requirement waived. Chicago resident Keith Santangelo signed up for Internet service, but told Comcast through an online chat feature on its website that he refused…
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