Wow!
I truly thank God I have a job right now! But am I the only one that is bothered by this? Please tell me.

Many employers are now starting to do credit checks on applicants and basing their hiring decision based on this!

First off with the poor economy many Americans are having a had time simply keeping up. Many have lost their jobs due to lay-offs. I don't know about you but I can't be with out a job for no more than 3 months.

READ THIS:
"Employers reviewing a credit report want to see that the applicant is financially stable, not overextended, and meeting his or her obligations in a responsible manner," says Sam Davidson, customer service manager with Bills.com.

The credit information is important, Meschke adds, when comparing two applicants. "If, for example, an applicant reports a significant level of personal debt obligations or credit delinquencies that might distract that person from his/her job responsibilities, then a hiring entity may take that information into consideration when comparing such an applicant to another comparative candidate without such distractions."

I feel that if you have bills to pay, this will motivate ANYONE to bust their A$$ and make that money. Do you agree? Even to be a Law enforcement officer! They would rather hire someone that has previous gang association than to hire someone with a fico score of under 600. Next they'll start juding people that have experiance divorce cause they can't consintrate on their work…. PLEASE!

We are all human and $hit happens. I realize that some people ARE irresponsible and spend more than what they can, but seriously… People need to work to survive and to be judged based on this especially with there difficult economic times is just not right.

PEACE!
It's ridiculous! They should be allowed to check your criminal records, past job performances and your ability to do the job applied for and not your credit report.
The company has to look out for its shareholders in the base way possible. If studies have been done that indicate high credit score = good employee, why not use that to your advantage (until congress passes laws saying you can't discriminate by it)
I read today that only 42% of all employers run a credit check.Mostly those jobs where money is handled.So get a job at the 58% who do not do a credit check.
You should consider that an employee that is financially distressed - even for legitimate reasons - might be more likely to steal from their employer than one who is not financially distressed. When it comes down to feeding your family or losing your home, even the most honest people can fall off the path. Try to see it from the employer's standpoint. Employee dishonesty, "under the counter" deals & outright embezzelment are major causes of financial loss to businesses. If you had to chose between 2 comparable job candidates the potential exposure for employee dishonesty would be a legitimate issue.
This is NOT new. They have been doing credit checks for YEARS. Having bad credit is a indication of someone who has money trouble and is irresponsible handling money. As en employer, you don't want to hire someone with money trouble, because these are the people who tend to steal from their employers. No employer uses credit as a sole criteria, but if you have two equally qualified candidates and one has a 750 FICO and the other has a 500 FICO and is on the verge of bankruptcy owing $50k in credit card debt, which one do YOU want running YOUR business?
This is one stupid reason if you are out of work then you have to use what money you have saved up to spend on your main bills(Roof,electric and food) I do not understand this and will never agree with this anyway Take Care and God Bless
Amen to that!. I have been a victim of that as well. Husband got cancer
Cound'nt pay the rent etc etc. Best of luck to all who have had this happen to them. If you didn't need $ to pay your bills, why would you be applying for a job?