Credit Check update
Remember the last blog about Credit Checks and the government looking towards restricting them for pre-employment screening? Well, Oregon and 15 other states have proposed bills to ban credit checks on most job applicants, unless the check is “substantially related” to job duties, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Hawaii and Washington already have such bans in place.
In fact, the Oregon bill has passed, but has not yet been signed into law by the Governor, although it likely will be. The bill would exempt banks, credit unions and law employment agencies. It would also exempt employers if the credit information is relevant to the job and the employer discloses the check to the applicant. ‘Relevant to the job’ is not too clear, although it would likely include employees in finances or accounting, and perhaps those handling money.
To be safe, a best practice would be to only check the credit of those employees with job-related duties involving money. Also, be sure to follow your particular state guidelines.