BWFC (11/18/2014)
Stefan Krzywicki (11/18/2014)
cackalackian (11/18/2014)
Would you want aspects of your life, perhaps data outside of your health (think driving, finance, etc) to be part of the evaluation (or negotiation) process for your employment?
I'm not so sure it isn't already. My credit has been looked at by the last 3 employers I've had as a condition of an employment background check. And I have been asked during the interview process if I had a valid drivers license.
One might argue it is the industry I'm in (currently govt.) and the that my "driving record" was not thoroughly scrutinized by a simplistic question. However, a candidate with good qualifications having a bad credit rating with no drivers license at all could leave a black cloud on a hiring manager's evaluation process when compared to an OK candidate with good credit and a valid drivers license.
It is the time we live in.
Credit checks for employment should be illegal.
I'm pretty sure they are in the UK. Although I seem to remember a friend of mine had any debts paid off when he joined the police. The thinking being that if he had no debts he would be less likely to take bribes.
Credit checks for employment are not illegal in the US. What the employer does with the information is up to them. The reasoning is similar to what you describe with the police. They don't want someone working as a DBA who has $300K of unsecured gambling debt. I can't say as I blame them for that specific line of thinking, but having bad credit could have many reasons. It certainly doesn't make anyone a bad DBA or developer.