Employment Credit Reports

Credit reports are a critical element of the background screening process for many employers. Banking, finance, security, public safety and pharmaceuticals are just a few industries that rely heavily on credit reports for making a hiring decision as an indication of integrity and stability. Consider a candidate for a government position who has defaulted on a government backed student loan or possesses tax liens against them. What about an employee that has fiduciary responsibility over company funds, check writing authority, or access to large amounts of cash? Consider an employee that is granted a company credit card and struggles to manage their own personal credit within acceptable limits. What about an employee that has access to customer credit card information or confidential consumer information which could lead to potential identity theft?

A credit report may give insight into a candidate’s stability and trustworthiness for a specific position, although there is no proven correlation to a candidate’s credit score and their ability to perform a job. For that reason, a credit score is not part of an employment credit report.

Individual States That Restrict Credit Report Use
A few states have considered, or passed, legislation that provides specific language around the use of credit reports for employment purposes. Employers need to be sure that their hiring, retention, and promotion practices fall within these guidelines.  Click here>> to learn more about state specific legal requirements.  

What does this service provide?

A subject’s credit history review is recommended for employees with financial responsibility, accounting functions, entrusted with corporate credit and debit cards or dealing directly with cash.  

Information provided within a credit report includes the following:

• Trade accounts include the number of open accounts the individual has in place (loans, credit cards, etc.)
• Satisfactory accounts include the number of trade accounts that are paid according to agreed-upon terms
• Delinquent accounts include the number of accounts that are paid late or have been charged off
• Collections include the number of accounts that have not been paid and are in collection
• Total counts for each category are displayed and the details of each individual account follow in the body of the report
• Public records include the number of public records on the report (bankruptcies, tax liens, civil judgments)