by U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen
Special to the Tri-State Defender

U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen

One in 10 people in Shelby County are looking for work. When so many are struggling to find jobs, credit checks should not be used as a basis to deny employment to otherwise qualified candidates.

Sadly, however, the use of credit checks to determine employment eligibility is a growing and disturbing trend. Currently 43 percent of all employers admit to performing credit checks on job applicants, despite the fact that several studies by well-respected, unbiased groups have confirmed that credit history does not predict job performance.  

With the unemployment rate unacceptably high, screening qualified and competent employees by their credit score only worsens applicants’ chances of getting back on their feet. That’s why I introduced HR 3149, The Equal Employment For All Act, which would give some of our most vulnerable, “credit challenged” citizens – students, recent college graduates, low-income families, senior citizens, and minorities – the opportunity to begin rebuilding their credit history by obtaining employment.

According to a recent report, one-third of individuals making less than $45,000 a year have poor credit scores as a result of bankruptcy, home foreclosure, loan delinquency, divorce, medical debt or unemployment. Additionally, the “credit challenged” often fall victim to deceptive marketing practices by credit report companies or credit counseling services advertised as a means to rehabilitate credit scores to help with employment. In reality, this is rarely the case, and is just another attempt to make money from people who are desperate to improve their finances.

The Equal Employment for All Act would prohibit the use of consumer credit checks by employers as part of the hiring or firing process, unless the job involves national security, FDIC clearance, or significant financial responsibility (such as bank managers, loan officers, or financial managers). In December, I held a briefing for my colleagues on the bill. One of the panelists shared her personal story about how the use of credit checks for employment has affected her. In her statement she explained, “As someone that has experienced this practice first-hand, I feel very strongly that credit should not be used to judge the character of job applicants. I am an honest person and a hard worker. I have no criminal record, and my credit problems are almost entirely from medical debt, not irresponsible behavior or out-of-control spending.”

Currently, more than 46 of my House colleagues have endorsed my bill, including: William Lacy Clay (D-Mo.), John Conyers Jr. (D-Mich.), Danny Davis (D-Ill.), Donna Edwards (D-Md.), Keith Ellison (D-Minn.), Al Green (D-Texas), Raul Grijalva (D-Ariz.), Alcee Hastings (D-Fla.), Jesse Jackson Jr. (D-Ill.), Sheila Jackson-Lee (D-Texas), Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-Texas), John Lewis (D-Ga.), Bobby Rush (D-Ill.), Nydia Velazquez (D-N.Y.), Maxine Waters (D-Calif.); and, Diane Watson (D-Calif.) The bottom line is that my bill is necessary to prevent the loss of job opportunities for those who most need them and to stop a vicious cycle that only hurts those who are trying to improve their finances

Too many Americans are caught in a preventable cycle of debt. They have fallen into bad credit and as a result they cannot do what they need to do to climb out: find a job, work hard, pay their bills, and earn a better credit score. The Equal Employment for All Act represents simple, tangible and immediate action we can take to provide motivated but unemployed Americans a chance to work their way out of bad credit.

(Steve Cohen represents the Ninth Congressional District of Tennessee in the U.S. House of Representatives, and is the author of HR 3149, the Equal Employment for All Act.)