Governor Quinn Signs Law to End Pre-Employment Credit Checks!
Is this the end for pre-employment credit checks in Illinois!!!
The latest press release from the governor’s office in Illinois would have you think so. Governor Pat Quinn is touting himself as a hero to the unemployed having just signed a bill into law that he says will “stop employers from denying a job or promotion based on information that is not an indicator of a person’s character or ability to do a job well.” Well…I think his hearts in the right place. (Do politicians have those?) Either way, the law’s not as harsh as it sounds, nor did it need to be in my opinion.
Most of the fear factor that people have about employers using credit reports has been created by the credit bureaus themselves. Credit bureaus spend tens of millions of dollars each year on catchy marketing campaigns that warn us that our bad credit could effect our ability to get most any job. Why would they do that you ask. They do it so we must go to their (or their affiliates) websites and look at our “free” credit report. Once there we find out it’s not so free to get our credit score and they also try to sell us credit monitoring for our protection.
The fact is, most employers use credit reports only when it truly makes sense to do so. After all, they want to fill positions and they don’t want to pay for extra services they don’t need. I work with hundreds of major corporations, many of which utilize credit reports in their applicant screening, but almost never across the board on all applicants. Visit our previous posting (Why do Employers Want to Check My Credit Report 07/28/2010) , for more details on why employers check credit.
I admit, our mostly positive experience with employers using credit reports is in part due to the fact we go out of our way to encourage them to use credit reports for screening applicants only when applicable to the position. Certainly there are companies out there who abuse their access to credit reports as well. This new law should be a good deterrence for preventing unnecessary and potentially discriminative credit.
However, for employers in Illinois that have a legitimate purpose for using credit report information, they need not worry. There are exceptions to every rule and this bill has several in the fine print. Here’s the facts on when Illinois employers are STILL able to access credit reports for pre-employment screening after House Bill 4658 goes into effect on Jan 1st 2011.
Employers may access credit checks under limited circumstances, including positions that involve
a. bonding or security per state or federal law;
b. unsupervised access to more than $2,500;
c. signatory power over businesses assets of more than $100;
d. management and control of the business;
e. access to personal, financial or confidential information, trade secrets, or state or national security information.
As you can see, these exceptions “confidential information” “trade secrets” allow quite a bit of room for interpretation.
Let’s hope that House Bill 4658 serves it’s intended purpose and allows more job seekers in Illinois not to worry about being judged by unavoidable credit damage in the wake of this recession. At the same time, employers can breathe easy that positions that really need to take financial stability into account for the protection of themselves and their clients, can still do so without repercussions. Now, let’s re-focus on why Quinn felt his entire staff deserved pay raises of nearly 20 percent during the states worst fiscal crises in history.
About the Author
Brad Jones is a Licensed Private Investigator and the founder of Background Screening Consultants LLC, an employment screening agency in Chicago. Brad Jones has specialized in employment screening and Fair Credit Reporting Act compliance since 1996 and is active in the National Association of Professional Background Screening.
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