Amarillo, TX - Your credit could now impact your job search.
A recent consumer report shows 60-percent of employers check credit on some or all perspective applicants.
Some local employers we spoke with today say they've decided to include this with their background check to help determine a candidate's character.
"We've been checking credit for employees within the past year," says Brittany Perez, part-owner, Drama Queens Boutique.
The reason for the recent change at Drama Queens Boutique was bad experiences with past employees.
"Well sometimes no-shows or people who really don't care about their job," says Brittany Perez, part-owner, Drama Queens Boutique.
They feel checking applicants' credit will help their business.
"Sometimes people can be a really good interviewer and then a really bad employee. This kind of narrows down our options on what kind of associate we're about to hire," says Brittany Perez, part-owner, Drama Queens Boutique.
There are some people who think credit checks before hiring is an invasion of privacy.
One group called the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse has an online complaint center.
All you have to do is file a privacy complaint and immediately they'll send it to state and federal agencies and also give you individual advice.
A handful of states have already done away with the use of credit reports in hiring and personnel decisions.
"This is one of the worst, most phony indicators of whether someone's going to be a good employee or not. I think its ridiculous to rely on credit scores but again, it's easy," says Jeff Blackburn, Attorney.
Drama Queen Boutiques says they ideally would like to see an applicant score between 650 and 750 but there are some exceptions.
"We have to see their past work experience and how long they were with their previous employment. Then we will consider it,"says Brittany Perez, part-owner, Drama Queens Boutique.
If you feel like your privacy rights have been violated you can log on to www.privacyrights.org for information.
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