National Financial Literacy Month – Video illustrates myth that employers use credit scores
creditscoring.com video shows media, experts, central bank and legislators furthering the myth that employers use credit scores in hiring decisions.
From: Greg Fisher
Sent: Monday, April 18, 2011
To: Kevin T. Kane, Chief State’s Attorney, Division of Criminal Justice, Connecticut
Cc: Martin Looney, state Senator, Majority Leader, Connecticut; Martin Looney, state Senator, Majority Leader, Connecticut (press aide email address); Matthew Lesser, state Representative, Connecticut; Robert Hiltonsmith, policy analyst, Demos; Timothy k. Rusch, director of Communications, Demos; Amelia Warren Tyagi, board chair, Demos; Miles Rapoport, president, Demos; Lori J. Pelletier, secretary-treasurer, Connecticut AFL-CIO; John Olsen, president, AFL-CIO, Connecticut; Sarah Poriss, attorney at law; Edith Prague, state Senator, chair, Labor & Public Employees, Connecticut; Edith Prague, state Senator, chair, Labor & Public Employees, Connecticut (press aide email address); Kia Murrell, assistant counsel, Connecticut Business & Industry Association
Subject: Attention: Chief State’s Attorney Kevin T. Kane; RE: credit score, employers, Connecticut SB 361, Division of Criminal Justice
You testified, “As stated in our testimony on H.B. No. 5061, An Act Eliminating Credit Reports as a Basis for Employment Decisions, the use of credit scores, credit account balances, payment histories, bank account balances and other credit information plays a critical role in ensuring that those who occupy positions of public trust are not susceptible to improper influence.”
Do you obtain credit scores of those who occupy positions of public trust?
—
Greg Fisher
The Credit Scoring Site
creditscoring.com
PO Box 342
Dayton, Ohio 45409-0342
[attached: copy of previous messages]
From: Greg Fisher
Sent: Friday, April 15, 2011
To: Kia Murrell, assistant counsel, Connecticut Business & Industry Association
Cc: Martin Looney, state Senator, Majority Leader, Connecticut; Martin Looney, state Senator, Majority Leader, Connecticut (press aide email address); Matthew Lesser, state Representative, Connecticut; Robert Hiltonsmith, policy analyst, Demos; Timothy k. Rusch, director of Communications, Demos; Amelia Warren Tyagi, board chair, Demos; Miles Rapoport, president, Demos; Lori J. Pelletier, secretary-treasurer, Connecticut AFL-CIO; John Olsen, president, AFL-CIO, Connecticut; Sarah Poriss, attorney at law; Edith Prague, state Senator, chair, Labor & Public Employees, Connecticut; Edith Prague, state Senator, chair, Labor & Public Employees, Connecticut (press aide email address)
Subject: RE: credit score, employers, Connecticut SB 361, Connecticut Business & Industry Association (CBIA)
See this message and your response at https://blog.creditscoring.com/?tag=connecticut-sb-361.
In testifying, you engaged in this exchange:
SENATOR [Edith] PRAGUE: So, Kia, when somebody gets a background check on a prospective employee, if they ask for a criminal background check that’s all they get is a criminal background check, or they get the whole package, the criminal background check and the credit score.
KIA MURRELL: It depends on who that employer is and how that employer is conducting his background.
SENATOR PRAGUE: So it can vary.
KIA MURRELL: It can vary a lot.
What indicates that background checks on prospective employees include credit scores?
—
Greg Fisher
The Credit Scoring Site
creditscoring.com
PO Box 342
Dayton, Ohio 45409-0342
[attached: copy of previous messages]
From: Greg Fisher
Sent: Thursday, April 14, 2011
To: Sarah Poriss, attorney at law
Cc: Martin Looney, state Senator, Majority Leader, Connecticut; Martin Looney, state Senator, Majority Leader, Connecticut (press aide email address); Matthew Lesser, state Representative, Connecticut; Robert Hiltonsmith, policy analyst, Demos; Timothy k. Rusch, director of Communications, Demos; Amelia Warren Tyagi, board chair, Demos; Miles Rapoport, president, Demos; Lori J. Pelletier, secretary-treasurer, Connecticut AFL-CIO; John Olsen, president, AFL-CIO, Connecticut
Subject: RE: credit score, employers, Connecticut SB 361; Sarah Poriss, Attorney at Law, LLC
See this message and your response at https://blog.creditscoring.com/?tag=connecticut-sb-361.
You testified, “I support this bill because credit reports and credit scores are just not accurate indicators of work ethic, they frustrate the already financially challenged job seeker, and prevent employers from finding the right person for the job.”
What indicates that credit scores influence employers’ hiring decisions?
—
Greg Fisher
The Credit Scoring Site
creditscoring.com
PO Box 342
Dayton, Ohio 45409-0342
[attached: copy of previous messages]
From: Greg Fisher
Sent: Wednesday, April 13, 2011
To: Lori J. Pelletier, secretary-treasurer, Connecticut AFL-CIO
Cc: Martin Looney, state Senator, Majority Leader, Connecticut; Martin Looney, state Senator, Majority Leader, Connecticut (press aide email address); Matthew Lesser, state Representative, Connecticut; Robert Hiltonsmith, policy analyst, Demos; Timothy k. Rusch, director of Communications, Demos; Amelia Warren Tyagi, board chair, Demos
Subject: RE: credit score, employers, Connecticut SB 361, AFL-CIO
See this message and your response at https://blog.creditscoring.com/?tag=connecticut-sb-361.
You testified, “If employers are allowed to continue using credit scores in hiring decisions, many hard-working people will be unfairly penalized.”
What indicates that employers use credit scores?
—
Greg Fisher
The Credit Scoring Site
creditscoring.com
PO Box 342
Dayton, Ohio 45409-0342
[attached: copy of previous message]
From: Greg Fisher
Sent: Tuesday, April 12, 2011
To: Robert Hiltonsmith, policy analyst, Demos
Cc: Martin Looney, state Senator, Majority Leader, Connecticut; Martin Looney, state Senator, Majority Leader, Connecticut (press aide email address); Matthew Lesser, state Representative, Connecticut
Subject: credit score, employers, Connecticut SB 361
See this message and your response at https://blog.creditscoring.com/?p=2017.
You testified: “And it really just depends on the method through which the employer gets their credit scores. A lot of times they come bundled with background checks, for example, and that’s part of the reason for the proliferation.”
What indicates that employers get credit scores?
—
Greg Fisher
The Credit Scoring Site
creditscoring.com
PO Box 342
Dayton, Ohio 45409-0342
Credit scores are not used as some kind of cut-off point in hiring decisions. In fact, credit scores are not used in employment, at all.
It’s a myth.
In an appearance on Fox News, lawyer Pamela Devata articulates the misperception: “Employers are not using credit reports to eliminate groups of people at the beginning of the hiring process. Credit scores are not in employment reports, and therefore employers have to actually engage in a detailed and, often, time-consuming analysis to review the information in a credit report.” [1:40]
Last year, the other person on the broadcast, Maryland state legislator Kirill Reznik, blamed media for the confusion.
From: Greg Fisher
Sent: Friday, April 08, 2011
To: Joshua Ruch, managing partner, Rho Capital Partners (via Courtney Guertin, media relations, Lin Media)
Cc: Susan Hogan, consumer reporter, Call 12 for Action team, WPRI
Subject: credit score employers myth, Eyewitness News, WPRI channel 12, Rho
See this message and your response at https://blog.creditscoring.com/?p=1967.
You broadcast: “So, do you think it’s fair for a potential employer to hold your credit score against you? Fair or not, it could be the deal breaker.”
Who is your source regarding credit score use by employers?
—
Greg Fisher
The Credit Scoring Site
creditscoring.com
PO Box 342
Dayton, Ohio 45409-0342
From: Greg Fisher
Sent: Thursday, April 07, 2011
To: S. I. Newhouse Jr., chairman and CEO, Advance Publications, Inc.
Cc: John P. Hiner, executive editor, Bay City Times (Advance Publications, Inc.); Matt Sharp, publisher, Bay City Times (Advance Publications, Inc.); Shannon Murphy, reporter, Bay City Times (Advance Publications, Inc.); Karen Rowlader, assistant director of Professionalism, Thomas M. Cooley Law School; Jon Switalski, Michigan state Representative
Subject: credit score employers myth, Advance Publications, Inc.
See this message and your response at https://blog.creditscoring.com/?p=1951.
In an editorial, you published, “Checking credit scores is no longer a reliable or even fair way to rate job candidates.”
What evidence suggests that employers use credit scores in hiring decisions?
—
Greg Fisher
The Credit Scoring Site
creditscoring.com
PO Box 342
Dayton, Ohio 45409-0342
From: creditscoring.com
To: The Honorable Jon Switalski
Cc: Andy Dillon; Todd Heywood, Michigan Messenger
Date: 3/17/09
Subject: credit score, employer
You said, “If employers are allowed to continue using credit scores in hiring decisions, many hard-working people will be unfairly penalized.”
What evidence suggests that employers use credit scores in hiring decisions?
It has been a contentious and rocky road, but Maryland media may finally be getting it (it’s a start, anyway) right.
After publishing
[Vangel Paper co-owner Valerie S.] Androutsopoulos said she doesn’t have blanket rules about using the reports and tends to ignore bad credit scores if they involve medical or education debts or mortgage issues,
the Baltimore Sun (“Light for All”) publshed a follow-up:
Employers already are barred from seeing a person’s credit score, but the Assembly wants to limit their ability to access the entire report.
Regarding the first piece, the paper’s politics and government editor wrote:
Mr. Fisher:
Thank you for calling this issue to our attention. We have run a correction in our print and online editions.
However, the correction does not appear on the paper’s errors and corrections (named “Corrections and Clarifications”) web page. Further, other items from the same fold are still wrong.
It does not stop with media.