Identification

• Employers typically review your credit file to check for patterns of repossessions, collections and high credit card balances. If you demonstrate a high consumer risk, you may be denied unemployment. According to a 2009 MSN Money article by Liz Pulliam Weston, applicants for Transportation Security Administration airport screener jobs are rejected if they have more than $5,000 in overdue debt.
  
  

Legislation

• States and federal legislation has been passed or is being heard to prevent employers from basing hiring decisions on consumer credit information. For example, U.S. Congressman Steve Cohen introduced the Equal Employment for All Act on July 9, 2009. If passed into federal law, the bill would prohibit employers from making adverse employment decisions based on consumer credit information. As of March 2011, the bill is still in review. In Illinois, Gov. Pat Quinn signed into law the Illinois Employee Credit Privacy Act on Aug. 10, 2010. The ECPA significantly limits the ability of most Illinois employers to obtain credit history information for applicants and current employees, except in limited circumstances. States like Hawaii and Washington have similar legislation.
  
  

Considerations

• Jobs involving national security or Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. clearance, employment with a state or local agency, and supervisory, managerial, professional or executive positions at financial institutions may require job applicants with a lower credit risk.
  
  

Bankruptcy

• While having bad debts can affect your ability to obtain employment, filing a bankruptcy cannot. According to the Bankruptcy Act, an employer cannot terminate, demote or act unfavorably towards a debtor solely because an existing or previous bankruptcy filing. Chapter 7 bankruptcy filings remain on your credit file for 10 years, whereas a Chapter 13 filing remains for seven.