Credit Record Affecting Employment?

A recent question asked on the forum was whether a County Court Judgment (CCJ) would harm the candidate’s chances of becoming a police officer. It is a question many people ask who are working in a variety of professions for both the public and private sectors. It is very true that a bad credit record will bar you from certain jobs and occupations but this is not a blanket approach so you should be aware of the reasoning behind the issues when it comes to keeping hold of your job or getting a new one.

The main reason behind an employer checking the credit file of an applicant is to ascertain whether they will meet the “fit and proper” requirements for a particular position. For instance, people working in a position of financial trust such as a financial advisor or a bank official may be under such financial pressure given their own position that they become motivated to misadvise customers to make extra income for themselves or to misappropriate someone else’s money for their own purposes.

Now this does not mean that you with a CCJ, or an Insolvency Voluntary Arrangement (IVA) or even a bankruptcy cannot work for such employers. The test is whether you are “fit and proper”; if you have made efforts to deal with your financial issues such as pay off a CCJ, establish and follow a payment plan which is reasonable under your financial circumstances or have been discharged from bankruptcy, then it is a hard decision to say you have not behaved yourself. Bottom line is if you follow the legal relief that is allowed and do not act with a fraudulent or bad faith personality then you are simply someone who has fallen on hard times which is not a crime.

Many applicants for jobs are motivated by fear and a desire to avoid embarrassment and end up omitting adverse credit information when they sign employment applications. This is a very bad move as credit information is easily available and if you have a CCJ when you say you don’t then it does call into question your honesty and integrity – you fail to demonstrate you are “fit and proper” in other words.