The Access Campaign is a campaign of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law designed to examine and dismantle barriers to gainful employment for persons with negative credit histories.
Increasingly, employers conduct background checks when vetting potential employees. In 2003, eighty percent of large employers conducted criminal background checks. This practice is now far more prevalent. According to a January 2010 poll of members of the Society of Human Resource Management, 92 percent conducted background checks. Background credit checks are being used in the hiring process, with recent reports estimating that between 40 and 60% of employers use credit checks to screen job applicants. Due to a myriad of reasons, people of color are more likely to have a negative credit history. Thus, any employer implementing a blanket policy prohibiting employment opportunities because of criminal history and/or credit histories will disproportionately exclude otherwise qualified applicants of color.
To learn more about credit checks and employment, please click on any of the following headings for more information on the indicated topic.
- Job Seekers’ Guide to Employers’ Use of Credit History Checks
- An Overview of Credit Checks and Discrimination by the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law
- A Guide for Employers on the Use of Background Checks
- Credit Checks in the News
- Existing Legal Protections
- Credit Checks Litigation
- The Equal Employment for All Act
- Study on Lack of Predictive Value of Credit Information
- Sample Background Reports on Credit
- Society for Human Resource Management: Study on the Implications of Credit Background Checks on the Decision to Hire
- The Impact of Medical Debt
- Other Resources and Links
On October 28, 2010, the Lawyers’ Committee hosted a Credit Checks Convening involving policymakers, researchers, and employment law professionals in a discussion of credit checks in the employment process. The panel discussion topics included “An Overview of the Facts, the Research, and Current Legal Protections,” “The Need for Policy Change,” and “Developing Effective Litigation Strategies.” The convening also recommended the following next steps for the advocacy community to continue the fight against inappropriate use of credit checks for employment decisions: (i) Conducting additional research on how employers are using credit check information, the impact of credit checks on minority groups and women, and determining whether the assertions of a connection between adverse credit check information and job performance have any basis in fact; (ii) Identifying through job notice postings employers who are significant offenders misusing credit report information and finding a few target cases; (iii) Identifying less discriminatory alternatives and educate employers regarding best practices; (iv) Advocating for legislative changes and improved EEOC guidelines; and (v) Better organization of advocacy groups on this issue. You can access the agenda by clicking here. A summary of the Convening is available here.
