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Many states are considering restricting access to credit checks during a criminal background check.

Inc is reporting that at least 16 states are considering legislation to ban or limit an employer's ability to run credit checks on potential hires, a practice that has become commonplace while conducting a criminal background check.

A recent survey from the Society for Human Resource Management found that 60 percent of employers run credit checks on some job applicants, an increase from the 43 percent who did so during 2006.

In most states, employers can check job applicants and current employees' histories for overdue payments on mortgages, credit cards, loans, rent and more. Credit checks are viewed as part of a hiring strategy to prevent putting at-risk or untrustworthy applicants into positions where they could do harm to the company.

But opponents call the practice discriminatory and unnecessary, Inc reports.

Most recently, business owners and state legislators in Maryland are battling over the practice. After hearing complaints from out-of-work constituents, Rep. Kirill Reznik proposed legislation that would restrict an employer's ability to use credit history against existing employees or potential hires.

"In this bad economy, when they leave their jobs and get behind on their bills, their credit reports go bad," he said. "When they try to get a job, they're unable to – and get stuck in an unfair Catch-22."

In Wisconsin, Rep. Kim Hixson has proposed legislation that would ban discriminatory credit checks for jobs that aren't substantially related to a candidate's credit history. He told Inc that although there are some relevances when hiring an investment banker, the same may not be true for hiring a truck driver, librarian or gym employee.

"I've had some employers tell me a credit report is a mark of a person's character," Hixson said. "They say, 'if they have a good credit history, I know they are trustworthy.' That's just not always going to be the case, so hiring based on it is discriminatory."

A 2007 law signed in Washington states that employers may not access credit reports of employees or job applicants unless the information is significantly related to the employee or their job responsibilities.

The issue also is gaining national attention, as EEOC Chairman Stuart Ishimaru has become a vocal critic of using employee credit checks, and has asked the agency to issue guidelines on how to complete a criminal background check in a non-discriminatory manner.

Labels: Criminal background check