What does your bank account have to do with your capacity to do your job? According to the Harper government, there’s apparently a correlation – but we couldn’t disagree more.
The federal government recently revealed its intention to add mandatory credit checks as part of its employee screening procedures.
The Union of National Employees condemns the new invasive screening procedures.
“The credit check is overly intrusive,” said national president Doug Marshall. “This process is irrelevant for those not involved in finance. It’s quite frankly a solution where there is no demonstrable problem. Privacy is a human right and forcing employees to disclose this information is a violation of their human rights.”
Government workers already endure intense screening processes to gain levels of security clearance. And lately, there has been a backlog as both potential and current employees wait for their clearances to go through. But somehow the government has the resources to add credit checks to these processes?
Another problem with credit reports is that they were designed to inform financial institutions of your capacity to pay back a loan; they were never designed to glean information on your reliability as an employee. And using these as employment screening devices only hurts the economically disadvantaged.
Furthermore, credit reports are often flawed. From moneysense.ca:
A national survey by the Public Interest Advocacy Centre found a 20% error rate in which people sampled said items on reports were inaccurate or should have been removed. Based on his experience as a mortgage and credit risk specialist, Mike Morley says the error rate may be as high as 40%.
Correcting errors can take several months to a year; and the legwork, unfortunately, lies with the individual, not the credit reporting agency.
Is the Harper government saying that private credit rating agencies have a greater capacity to screen prospective and current employees than CSIS?
Anyone can suffer some financial hardship during the course of their life. A divorce, a prolonged period of unemployment, an unforeseen expense, a misplaced invoice that goes unpaid; all of these things can affect your credit rating to some degree. None of these things play a role in your reliability as an employee.
So if you are asked to sign an agreement for a credit check, consult the union! We are here to help you through this attempt at privacy invasion by the current government.
As a general rule, every Canadian should be aware of the information on their credit report. The Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada recommends that you check your credit report from a credit agency at least once a year to ensure that it is correct. You can obtain your credit report from two Canadian credit agencies: TransUnion and Equifax.