So now the Mainstream Media expects me to believe ONLY White Job applicants have "Perfect" or Good Credit.
In this Recession when White Homeowners are behind on their mortgages and losing their homes via Foreclosure too?
No way I'm going to accept that propaganda!
This is just another way for American Businesses to practice Employment Discrimination against Black Job Applicants and Black Workers.
Refusing to hire an otherwise Qualified Applicant based upon their Credit History, especially Minority Applicants, is clearly a direct violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
Where's Pres. Obama?
Where's Eric Holder?
Where's the NAACP?
Where's the Congressional Black Caucus?
Do any of them care?
Check out the articles and videos below which help to prove Employment Discrimination is now stronger than ever and that it is indeed illegal to discriminate based upon one's Credit History.
Bad Credit Sidelines Minority Jobless Workers
Three years ago, after working as a temporary data entry clerk and receptionist for a Los Angeles skin care company, Debra Banks (an African-American Woman) was pleased when her manager offered her a full-time job.
“I thought I was in for sure,” said Banks, 54. “I was getting praise about how hard I worked. I was pretty committed there because I thought I was going to get a full-time job.”
There were just a couple of formalities, including a check of her credit history.
“My heart dropped,” said Banks, who has no health insurance and a large unpaid medical bill. When the results came back, she said, the manager gave her the bad news. "Tomorrow’s your last day.”
Employers’ growing reliance on credit checks when screening new hires is turning out to be bad news for millions of jobless Americans. Losing a job can often mean trouble paying bills for many unemployed people. And the damage done to their credit history increasingly can become a barrier to finding another job, touching off a vicious downward spiral.
“I understand a background check,” Banks said. “But I can’t see how your credit relates to your work. I had more than proved my worthiness as an employee. I didn’t steal anything. I didn’t cheat. I didn’t do anything wrong.”
There are no hard numbers on how often poor credit reports thwart someone's effort to find a new job. Many applicants will never know; employers aren’t required to explain why a candidate was turned down for a job.
But a recent survey by the Society of Human Resource Management found that many employers use credit checks to screen job candidates. Of the roughly 100 employers who responded, 60 percent said they checked credit histories for some or all job applicants. That’s up from 43 percent in 2004 and just 25 percent in 1998.
Credit checks are used most frequently when hiring senior executives, workers with financial responsibilities or access to cash, and workers who would have access to confidential information about other employees, according to the survey.
The conventional wisdom in using credit histories in hiring decisions is that a bad history of paying bills is a pretty good indicator of an employee’s reliability.
And if a new worker is to have access to large amounts of company cash or financial systems, it’s only prudent for a hiring manager to find out if the applicant has a pile of unpaid debts, said Lester S. Rosen, CEO of ESRcheck, which screens job candidates for companies.
“If an employer hires an embezzler and did not do a credit report in a sensitive position and the employer was then sued for negligent hiring, the argument would then be: ‘How stupid were you for not to running a credit report?’” he said.
Checking credit as part of the hiring process apparently has become more widespread for several reasons. Where prospective employers once relied on detailed references from an applicant’s former managers, many companies — fearful of getting sued for providing a negative reference — have become reluctant to provide more than basic information, like the dates and description of a former worker’s job.
Yet the increased scrutiny of credit histories comes while a record 6.4 million Americans have been unemployed for more than six months. Such long-term unemployment can do serious damage to personal credit.
Many also face the expiration of unemployment insurance; unless extended by Congress, some 5 million people will run out of benefits by June, according to the National Employment Law Project.
The credit crunch has also battered the financial records of consumers who have never been late on a bill. As lenders have cut back credit limits unilaterally, some card holders have been caught owing more than their new, lower limit.
“There’s been absolutely no change in that person’s behavior, no change in their circumstances,” said Paul Leonard, director of the California office of the Center for Responsible Lending. “The change was made by the credit allocation decision of the credit card companies.”
The surge in home foreclosures since the collapse of the housing market has also sent millions of otherwise job-ready applicants into bad-credit limbo. Identity theft or divorce can also render a job seeker unemployable.
Critics of the practice argue that there is little research correlating bad credit with good job performance.
“There is no science, there is no evidence that supports the idea that an applicant’s credit history is reflective of a person’s propensity to steal or their suitability for employment generally,” said Adam Klein, an employment lawyer at Outten & Golden in New York. “These are basically unrelated concepts. ... It would be like asking for hat size or if you can sing on pitch.
In some cases, a job candidate with bad credit could even turn out to be a better worker, critics like Leonard argue.
“The simple case is somebody who has lost a job and suffered damage to their credit score,” he said. “They’re going to be a more motivated and inspired employee than somebody who hasn’t because they need the income more.”
Under current law, employers can access any job applicant’s credit history, with some restrictions. The reports made available to employers don’t include the applicant's age or credit score, for example. Job candidates have to be notified of the credit check and give their permission to access their credit data. And if you’re turned down for a job explicitly because of bad credit, the employer has to give you a copy of the report.
Employment screening consultants caution that credit histories should be used sparingly — in part because, as many consumers have learned the hard way, the information in a credit history isn’t always reliable. Credit agencies themselves routinely caution anyone using their reports that the information may be inaccurate or out of date. But correcting an error can take 30 to 60 days — long after an employer has made a hiring decision and moved on.
Though many employers run credit checks on some applicants, relatively few are turned down for a job because of bad credit, according to Rosen of ESRcheck.
“It’s only when they’re down to a finalist or one or two finalists that they’ll run a background check,” he said. “And in the real world, what we see is that it really takes something pretty horrendous in the credit report to reverse a decision that they’re vested in.”
But critics of the process say the information provided in a credit report is being used too broadly and shouldn't be available to all employers for all job applicants.
The use of credit reports in hiring decisions also faces a legal challenge on the grounds that it discriminates against Minorities and other groups that have lower-than-average credit scores.
In a suit filed last September in Baltimore, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission charged a corporate marketing company, Freeman, with unlawful discrimination by refusing to hire black job applicants based on their credit history.
The Commission argues that because the practice has a “significant disparate impact” on black applicants, it is a violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The case is pending.
Proposals to ban the use of credit histories in job screening have been introduced in several states and in Congress, but the measures face an uphill battle. Last fall, California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed a bill that would have sharply limited the use of credit histories to job candidates who would have access to large amounts of cash or confidential financial information, among special situations.
In July, Rep. Stephen Cohen, D-Tenn., introduced a bill in the House, H.R. 3149, that would amend the Fair Credit Reporting Act to ban the use of credit checks in the hiring process. The bill would carve out exceptions for work involving national security clearance or some jobs in the financial services industry.
Cohen say he doesn’t believe a bad credit history should reflect negatively on a job applicant.
“That might have been the case in a different economy, but not in this economy,” he said. “If you’re laid off and you don’t have a job, you don’t have an income and you can't meet your obligations."
But despite the support of 51 co-sponsors, the bill is stuck in committee and hearings haven't been scheduled. Cohen concedes the measure faces strong opposition.
“The credit agencies are against it,” he said. “It’s part of their business. They’re making money out of it. They want to do as much credit reporting as they can.”
Charlotte Businesses Still Practicing Employment Discrimination
Having lived in Charlotte, NC for a number of years (my native home is Brooklyn, NY) I've experienced (along with many other Minorities who reside in the South), the ugly face of Employment Discrimination.
Time will not permit me to disclose the number of College-Educated, Intelligent Minority (mainly African-American) applicants who've had to settle for low paying Call Center jobs due to Charlotte companies using "certain Qualifications" as an excuse for not hiring them.
However these same companies would then hire less qualified White applicants.
Here are 3 strong examples of how deeply rooted Charlotte's Employment Discrimination is:
1) Upon completing Paralegal school years ago, I was repeatedly told by Charlotte Law Firms "we desire someone with at least 3 to 5 years of experience".
Yet these same Law Firms would repeatedly hire White applicants who possessed absolutely Zero Legal work experience to fill Paralegal, Legal Assistant or Legal Secretary job vacancies.
2) An North Carolina EEOC Employment Discrimination Case Mediator once shared with me that one of Charlotte's biggest banks (no it wasn't BOFA, it was Wachovia) had more Racial Discrimination complaints filed by its Minority employees than any other business located in the Southeast.
3) Three years ago Charlotte Call Centers were full of Black employees who possessed Bachelor or Master Degrees. These employees accepted such low paying jobs because despite having graduated with high GPAs, they could not find jobs that paid well nor could they afford to relocate.
Double Standard you say?
No just plain Employment Discrimination!
What about the local NAACP you ask?
Forget it!
Charlotte's so-called NAACP chapter is Extremely Divisive, Elitist, Weak and too busy chasing 100-year-old Mortgage Deed schemes to care about such important matters as Employment Discrimination.
Now on the heels of Pres. Obama and Congress rolling out a new Tax Credit bill to spur hiring, many Charlotte businesses once again are using those same old Racist "certain Qualifications" as an excuse NOT to hire Minority applicants.
Of course Charlotte's local newspaper, the Charlotte Observer (community nickname: "Charlotte Disturber") seems to be helping those companies by publishing articles like the one I included below.
Stopping Employment Discrimination especially in Southern states needs to be fought vehemently by the Obama Administration.
Due to Racist Governors and Corrupt State Officials (Southern States) Federal Enforcement of Civil Rights Laws by the U.S. Dept of Justice appears to be the only way Employment Equality and Fair Hiring will be practiced in this country.
If Pres. Obama takes up this challenge created so many years ago by the late Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., perhaps he will win back some of his Black Voter support for both the 2010 and 2012 elections.
Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
Right Workers Still Hard To Find
Within a week of posting two job openings recently, The Steritech Group Inc. collected more than 200 resumes - about double the response of years past.
In November, the Charlotte food-safety and quality-assurance company hired a second recruiter to keep pace with its growth and deepening pool of applicants. And today, those recruiters say they're working harder than ever to find the right employees.
Many companies around the region are still slashing jobs and cutting pay. But those winners in this recession - companies able to grow as others have faltered - face a new challenge to find qualified job candidates among the growing stack of resumes.
"We commonly get questions about, 'How can you have a hard time finding people when there are so many people out of work?'" said Jennifer Courtney-Trice, Steritech's vice president of human resources. "In reality, it's still pretty tight when you're looking for good, quality candidates."
Government data released Friday show the Charlotte area's unemployment rate rose to 12.1 percent in December from 11.9 percent the month before. That's significantly higher than the state jobless rate, 10.9 percent, and the national average, 10 percent.
Charlotte has suffered more than other places in part because of the financial crisis in late 2008, which shook its big banks and fueled a wave of layoffs.
But some companies are hiring. International appliance maker Electrolux, outdoor equipment company Husqvarna and battery firm Celgard recently announced major expansions in the Charlotte area. A recent Charlotte Chamber report found that, despite the nearly 33,000 job losses in Mecklenburg County since the recession began, firms created more than 15,500 new jobs last year - the most since 2003.
As more jobs become available, though, and unemployment remains elevated, companies are becoming flooded with applicants. National data show there are more than six candidates for every available position across the country, and local hiring managers say they're seeing hundreds - many of whom aren't qualified for the jobs posted.
6 candidates per job
While there have always been some unqualified applicants, the sheer number of unemployed and the ease of Internet filing has made the problem worse for many companies, they say.
"When you have unemployment as high as it's been, there's a feeling that it's easy to fill jobs," said Michael Steinitz, Carolinas district president of staffing and consulting firm Robert Half International. "Actually, it's quite the opposite."
According to a recent survey from Robert Half and CareerBuilder, 44 percent of the resumes employers receive come from unqualified candidates. Almost half of the hiring managers surveyed cited under qualified applicants as their most common hiring challenge.
In addition, some of the best candidates still have jobs and are reluctant to leave in an uncertain economy, the survey found.
"It's as hard as ever," Steinitz said.
At Red Ventures, an Internet-marketing firm based in Fort Mill, S.C., recruiters have been inundated with applications for their openings, including about 40 postings in the corporate office, company co-founder Dan Feldstein said.
300 applications in a day
A job posted there one recent afternoon drew 300 applications by the end of the day, he said.
"As you can imagine, with the online world, there is very little incremental cost to a candidate to apply," Feldstein said. "There are more qualified people than ever, but there are more people than ever."
As a result, it's taking longer to find the "superstars," and Red Ventures has begun interviewing additional recruiters to help, he said.
Recruiters at Steritech, which is headquartered in south Charlotte and has 800 employees in the U.S. and Canada, face similar challenges.
The company has grown dramatically in recent years. It hired 175 people in 2009 and has already added 24 this year.
Steritech had about 60 job openings on a recent day, up from around 30 typically, said Courtney-Trice, the HR vice president.
Of the 100 or so applications she sees for each position, there are just three to five quality candidates, she said.
An electronic recruiting system, which asks candidates questions about their willingness to travel, experience and background, helps, as does the second recruiter.
But Steritech hasn't been willing to alter its multi-step hiring process, strict requirements - including a good cultural fit - and standards.
That, Courtney-Trice said, simply means "we are having to work harder."
Obama Unveils Tax Breaks To Spur Jobs Growth, Hike Wages
In an effort to spur job creation, President Obama unveiled Friday a $33 billion package of tax breaks aimed at encouraging businesses to hire workers and give employees raises.
The proposal would provide a $5,000 tax credit for each worker hired in 2010 and subsidize wage increases by reimbursing Social Security tax increases for businesses that expand their payrolls.
The tax breaks would be capped at $500,000 a business, meaning that they would mostly benefit small firms, according to senior administration officials who briefed reporters on the plan. The tax break on pay increases would apply only to workers making $106,800 or less.
Obama made the announcement during a visit to the Chesapeake Machine Co., a Baltimore firm that makes custom industrial equipment.
With the nation’s unemployment rate at the highest level in a generation even as the economy begins to recover from a deep recession, the tax breaks are intended to give an added incentive for businesses to hire workers, Obama said.
The proposal is also intended to give a political boost to Obama, who has been under pressure to do more to create jobs. Administration officials have said for months that the president’s plans to revamp health care, foster development of clean energy and boost education funding are aimed at the nation’s long-term economic growth.
But with unemployment and flat wages lingering as problems even as the larger economy begins to heal, the president and his allies in Congress have been searching for ways to accelerate job creation and wage growth.
“Now’s the perfect time for this kind of incentive because the economy is growing but businesses are still hesitant to start hiring again,” Obama said.
The president’s plan is similar to several proposals circulating on Capitol Hill and is estimated to benefit more than 1 million businesses. The administration did not offer an estimate of the number of jobs the tax breaks would create.
View Larger Map
Sources: MSNBC, EEOC, National Employment Law Project, Washington Post, McClatchy Newspapers, Charlotte Observer, WSJ, Roland Martin.com, Youtube, Google Maps
.jpg)
No comments:
Post a Comment