Denial of Promotion

brose215

A cashier, who had been employed at a retail establishment for several years, was verbally offered a promotion to a customer service rep. However, after the company did a credit check, the offer was withdrawn due to some credit problems. The employee has always proven to be trustworthy and has never stolen anything and will not be in contact with any more money than they already are. Is there any recourse, short of resigning from the company, for this employee?

Betty I_O

Are credit checks standard for such promotional sutuations in your company? If so, it appears your employer is not following the letter of the law and mishandled this situation. The Fair Credit Reporting Act restricts employers' use of credit reporting agencies and investigative bureaus to evaluate individuals being considered for hiring, promotion, reassignment, or retention. Employers may review credit reports for such purposes, but may not obtain a credit report on a job applicant or employee without first obtaining written permission. Before any adverse employment action may be taken on the basis of the report, the applicant or employee must be given a copy of the report and a written summary of creditors' rights under the Act, including the right to dispute inaccurate information on file with a credit bureau.

deniseE

If such a provision is not made in the employee handbook or clearly stated on the application-the employer could be out-of-bounds here.
The policy would have to stipulate what is considered "poor" in terms of credit rating.

and remember that it is illegal to discriminate against someone that has filed for personal bankruptcy. Therefore, if a bankruptcy is the sole reason for the denial-then the employee has grounds to stand on.