An applicant’s credit
report may as well be a goldmine of information for the employer.
While the resume should be a good place to start for getting to know
an applicant, statistics do show that at least 40 percent of
information in a resume is false. Should the employer decide to
expand the background check to include the applicant’s
credit report, the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) states that
the employer must first ask for the applicant’s permission.
The applicant may
refuse, but the employer has the right not to reconsider him in the
future for security purposes. If the employer ends up not hiring the
applicant after going over the latter’s credit profile, the FCRA
requires the employer to furnish a pre-adverse action disclosure
report, among other documents.
The employer is also
obliged to tell the applicant about incomplete or inaccurate details,
which can be grounds for refusal to hire. As this is a credit report,
any errors in the report isn’t the fault of the employer. People
with credit reports are responsible for the accuracy of the details
within the pages, which can be settled with the credit reporting
agency.
Applicants with
criminal records are another story. While criminal history is among
the reasons for initiating a background check, it doesn’t
necessarily imply that a former thief is disqualified from
employment. This can, however, be grounds for discrimination.
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