Background Check

[q4life]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? NY

The office has implement a new hire procedure as of May of this year to do background searches on all new hires. We recently got a note saying this would be done on everyone in our dept as well. We are all in Finance and have been with the company for 10 years.

We all have different concerns. Could any negative credit because of spouses losing their jobs or the cancellation of credit cards that have affected FICO scores be reason enough to get fired? Could insufficient credentials such as not having a specific degree in your field although you were hired or promoted years and years ago without one and have a ton of experience. Could these people now lose their jobs. As old as some of the people are is their experience worth anything? I don't think going back to school is an option for some of these people. Can this happen?

Can they now fire anyone if this information is not in good standing or does this have to be specific? Any advice is appreciated.

Thanks.

 

[Antigone*]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? NY

The office has implement a new hire procedure as of May of this year to do background searches on all new hires. We recently got a note saying this would be done on everyone in our dept as well. We are all in Finance and have been with the company for 10 years.

We all have different concerns. Could any negative credit because of spouses losing their jobs or the cancellation of credit cards that have affected FICO scores be reason enough to get fired? Could insufficient credentials such as not having a specific degree in your field although you were hired or promoted years and years ago without one and have a ton of experience. Could these people now lose their jobs. As old as some of the people are is their experience worth anything? I don't think going back to school is an option for some of these people. Can this happen?

Can they now fire anyone if this information is not in good standing or does this have to be specific? Any advice is appreciated.

Thanks.

New York as an "at-will state". You can be fired for having bad credit. You can be fired for having a low FICO. So, in essence, if your managment team wanted to clean house this way they could.

I would have to say that in the finance world if you are charged with the fiduciary responsiblity of handling other people's money you should have your own financial house in good order.

 

[q4life]

I understand that but if our credit scores are going down because of spouses losing their jobs and credit cards being cancelled how fair is it to lose our own jobs as well. those things we couldnt control. This is the economy leading this.

I agree that this may be a way to clean house but it just seems illegal when we are all affected in some way.

 

[cbg]

"unfair" and "illegal" are two different concepts and mean two different things. They are not interchangable. It is possible for something to be unfair without being illegal.

 

[mlane58]

Let me clarify a bit here. Employers can get limited credit reports on prospective and current employees, but they don't include lots of stuff found on a full credit history. They don't include your birth date or any information on joint accounts with a spouse, because that information could be used to discriminate in hiring, terminations or promotions. They also don't include your credit account numbers, to protect against fraud and ID theft.

And they don't include any kind of credit score.

 

[q4life]

"unfair" and "illegal" are two different concepts and mean two different things. They are not interchangable. It is possible for something to be unfair without being illegal.

I don't know. This is why I am posting this. I a human being trying to survive like the rest of you.

When you have worked somewhere for a long time you dont expect to go through that without good reason. I just cant see the justification here.

 

[q4life]

Let me clarify a bit here. Employers can get limited credit reports on prospective and current employees, but they don't include lots of stuff found on a full credit history. They don't include your birth date or any information on joint accounts with a spouse, because that information could be used to discriminate in hiring, terminations or promotions. They also don't include your credit account numbers, to protect against fraud and ID theft.

And they don't include any kind of credit score.

Thanks that is definetly great to hear.

 

[cbg]

I don't know. This is why I am posting this. I a human being trying to survive like the rest of you.

When you have worked somewhere for a long time you dont expect to go through that without good reason. I just cant see the justification here.

I understand. But that does not change the fact that under the law, you can be fired for any reason not specifically prohibited by law, and the fact that it may be "unfair" does not make it illegal.

Particularly since what is fair and what is unfair are very subjective concepts. Not everyone would agree as to what is and is not fair.

The law does not require that you understand the employer's justification, or agree with it.

I can't help what the law says. I'm only telling you what it says. Don't shoot the messenger, please.

 

[patstew]

We all have different concerns... Could insufficient credentials such as not having a specific degree in your field although you were hired or promoted years and years ago without one and have a ton of experience. Could these people now lose their jobs. As old as some of the people are is their experience worth anything? I don't think going back to school is an option for some of these people. Can this happen?

I sure hope this isn't implying that people have said they have degrees that they don't -- 'cause that's a deal breaker.

 

[pattytx]

I sure hope this isn't implying that people have said they have degrees that they don't -- 'cause that's a deal breaker.

People apparently do it all the time. I just went through one for a job, and the recruiter told me that's what they catch most often.

 

[KJHOOK13]

Yep!

I saw that part, too. Lying on an application is WORST thing someone can do. Most applications state that lying is reason for immediate dismissal. With most companies doing background checks, I can't believe people still lie and think they won't get caught!

 

[q4life]

Yes I agree, we have a few people who have went to school but not for the specific job they have now. Some with lesser degrees. These people have been in their positions longer than I. Could that be an issue. I am assuming they knew this when they first were hired. We do work for a large company.