I’m sure you’ve heard this before when you’re looking for a job or you might be the companies newest employee, “We’re going to have to check your credit.”  I know.  It just doesn’t make sense.  Why does a company have to check your credit in order for you to get a job.  Does it make you a bad person or does your credit show the future employer how you’re going to work?  While I disagree with these accusations, you need to know your rights are here they are –

An employer needs your permission – If you’re applying for a job and that company wants to run a background check on your or look into your credit history, they will need to get your permission.  If they don’t get your permission and you find that they did make a check, they would be violating the FRCA, which is the Fair Credit Reporting Act

You should be notified – If your bad credit is going to be used against you in your job, an employer will need to notify you.  As mentioned in the last point, if they fail to do so,  they will once again be violating the FRCA.

Bankruptcies won’t hurt you – If you filed bankruptcy in the past, an employer can’t fire you because of this reason.  According to U.S. Code, employers are prohibited from firing someone solely based on their financial past.  If you found yourself being fired for this reason, I would contact an attorney that could assist you with the matter.

Before you apply for a job, it never hurts to fix up your credit report or history.  Just because the employer looks at it, doesn’t mean they are going to hire you.  A lot of the times, the employer may see this and be turned off and in turn, they will lie on why they didn’t hire you.  Just to be safe with the American workforce, I would look into starting to improve your credit score as soon as you can.  Not only will it help you in everyday finances, it will help you with your job.