Bad credit and no job? Great news! Your services may soon be wanted in a number of states.
In order to break the vicious cycle of losing your job, sliding into the bad credit pool and then not being able to get a job because of your bad credit, 16 states are considering a ban on credit checks for job applicants, according to the National Conference on State Legislatures.
“Thank God! How do we get legislative support to push this through ASAP?” wrote one poster on ChicagoBusiness.com, who’s been unemployed for over a year and goes by the moniker “Unemployed.” “My credit is ruined but my work ethic is never stronger.”
“Unemployed” may have that wish granted — Illinois is one of the 16 states considering the ban. The others are: Connecticut, Georgia, Indiana, Maryland, Michigan, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Vermont and Wisconsin.
Hawaii and Washington already have such bans in place.
Sorry, California — your governor terminated a proposed ban on credit checks.
The biggest argument in favor of the ban is that, for most professions, how good you are with money has little bearing on your ability to perform your job.
Though, I think, given how this whole financial mess started, we’d all agree that credit checks should still be in place for at least one profession: Banks.
Actually, if you're applying for work at a bank, I'd also like to see your SAT score and any recent Sudoku puzzles you've done.
The Pony on Jobs:
- Help Wanted: And the Gold Medal for Hiring Goes to...
- The Dream Job That Could Kill You
- Get Paid Six Figures to Wear a T-Shirt?
- The Best Job-Hunting Tips for Executives
More from The Pony Blog: ponyblog.cnbc.com
