Stephanie Vacher

“I’m as mad as hell, and I’m not going to take this anymore!” – Network (1976)

A friend of mine wrote a post on his (private) journal that details his plan to ‘stick it to the man’ by cutting up and canceling one of his highest APR credit cards. A number of people replied by saying that was a bad idea, and his FICO/credit score would drop if he chose to cancel the card. His intention was more to make a statement- if a sea of people all dropped their most expensive card, it would show the company that people find those interest rates unacceptable. I think his statement is bright, and noble- “To hell with the credit score, I won’t take it anymore!” Seems like a cry akin to the earliest US patriots dumping tea from a barge. If we all chose to ‘suffer’ that little bit, maybe the corporation will see that people don’t want to pay upwards of 30% interest anymore. Unfortunately, the prevailing attitude seems to be that they are so closely tied into a system that defines their self-worth by a number. If it’s closer to 800- you’re good to go. 600? Worthless, trash, scum. Any lower than that? May as well be locked into a debtor’s prison.

My current beef isn’t really with the credit system. It’s too big of a battle to fight right now, and my time and resources are best spent doing other things (like graduating from University, finding gainful employment afterward, and staying off any of the social welfare systems that are generously provided by the government). But, and there’s always a but- one of the replies on that person’s thread struck me. Someone noted that without a credit card, or any credit to speak of, a person’s chances of finding gainful employment could be compromised. I was kind of surprised by this- I’ve never seen a job ad that asked for a credit record check. I started perusing craigslist, searching for jobs outside of the art industry, and I found a few who were asking for a credit check as part of the employment requirements.

A credit check? To get a job in the first place? This seems backwards.

A few phone calls later, I ended up speaking with someone from the Labour Relations Board and she confirmed that there are no laws prohibiting an employer from requesting a credit check, at least not in BC. I pressed the issue a bit- does the potential employee have to pay for the credit check? She answered no, citing the Employment Standards Act:

10 (1) A person must not request, charge or receive, directly or indirectly, from a person seeking employment a payment for

(a) employing or obtaining employment for the person seeking employment, or

(b) providing information about employers seeking employees.

A minor victory, sort of.

It still strikes me as cold and insidious that, in order to get a job with any of the companies requesting a credit check, that a person must submit to playing the game. You know the game, the credit game. Any person who has had the luck of being able to secure a credit card, or a loan, and also had the luck to secure employment to the point where their credit has been maintained, is pretty good at playing the game. However, not all of us are so lucky, or willing, to take part. And the worst part of it all is that we’re all seemingly thrust into the game whether we like it or not. With no regulation on the part of the employer (being prohibited from selecting a candidate partly-based on their credit score) the government is essentially saying that it is okay to deem an employee’s worth on whether or not they have a positive credit history.

That really doesn’t sit well with me, and I’m one of the relatively lucky ones. Even though I don’t have a credit rating to speak of as I have no credit card, at least I’m not stuck with crippling CC debt. I’ve never gone bankrupt, nor have I ever deferred payment, been behind on any payments, or done any of the hundreds of inane little things that could ‘ding’ my credit score (or lack thereof). If I had, however, done any of the above, does that mean that I’m less eligible to become an employee of XYZ company? Why should any company (outside of the financial sector, where people are responsible for keeping a company financially afloat) require that their employees pass a credit records check?

Does personal bankruptcy prohibit a person from being a safe, courteous truck driver?
Will three maxed-out credit cards make it so that a waitress can’t seat a table of eight and serve them in a timely manner?
If you’re behind on your mortgage payments, should you not be hired in the IT industry?

Since when does your credit score make you a good employee? A system of credit is as old as the ancients; there has always been a system of checks and balances, a concept of fairness closely intertwined with the trade of goods or services. Even the bible touches on the concept of debt- “Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors.” Though the direct translation has been skewed, the principles still remain. There is no place for our government to allow a prejudice against potential employees based on their financial status, or capacity to repay their debts. To force a person to take part in a predatory system of lending, fees, and interest speaks volumes to the current state of our country. Lest we forget that this system is part of the reason that the economy is in the tank and people are scrounging to pay their bills. The government has an obligation to protect its people from becoming an unfortunate cog in the debt machine, and that obligation starts with preventing companies from judging potential employees based on their credit score.

At this point, I’m just angry. I’m angry at the thought that I might be prohibited from getting a job because I choose not to use credit cards. I’m angry at the thought that my friends who are deeply in debt due to education (for which we get no bailout) might not get jobs- or might be forced to get bad jobs- because their credit score has been tanked from their loans. Finally, I’m angry that people who are even less better-off than me (I’m talking the population of people who are on the streets, or in SRO’s), who have absolutely zero credit to speak of, have yet another barrier preventing them from becoming employed. I’m angry that nobody is fighting this problem, and I don’t even know where to start.

If you have any information on where I could go, or what I could do, to get the word out there- I’d really appreciate it. I don’t want to play this game. I have a feeling that I’ll always be on the losing team.

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