EEOC Meeting Explored Use of Credit Histories as Employee Selection Criteria
On October 20, 2010,the EEOC held a meeting to hear testimony from representatives of various stakeholder groups as well as social scientists and the Federal Trade Commission on the growing use of credit histories as selection criteria in employment. It is somewhat unclear what the commission intended to have come out of the hearing, but it is significant that in her first meeting as chair, Jackie Berrien wanted to cover this issue.
In her opening remarks, Chairwoman Berrien noted that this will be the first in a series of hearings that will focus on neutral employment tools that may have a discriminatory effect in the employment marketplace. The EEOC will likely move to issue guidance on this issue in the near future.
Consumer reports remain a critical tool to minimize legal liability and help gather the best pool of job applicants. However, federal and state laws make lawfully utilizing background checks difficult. Employers should consider the relationship between the competencies of the position and how the information obtained in the report fits with those competencies.
