Employers commonly use credit checks during the application and hiring process as a mechanism to weed out “risky” employees. However, recent research shows that credit checks do not actually benefit or protect employers. But the practice does negatively impact employment opportunities for many job seekers, including survivors. Survivors of intimate partner violence often experience coerced debt and damaged credit at the hands of an abuser. Employment credit checks may inadvertently discriminate against a survivor applicant who has bad credit as a result of her abusive partner, which acts as a form of re-victimization. Such discriminatory actions compound survivors’ economic insecurity, exposing them to increased risk of poverty and future abuse.
Individual advocacy to repair credit and support survivors’ job seeking efforts is important, but corporate practice and public policy changes are also needed to eliminate credit checks as a barrier to employment. This webinar is for advocates and program leaders interested in enhancing both individual advocacy and systems change strategies to support survivors’ equal access to employment.
Attendees should walk away from the webinar being able to:
Understand the connection between credit and employment access in the context of survivors’ lives
Describe the practice of and current policies related to employment credit checks
Identify and develop individual advocacy strategies to enhance access to employment for survivor based on credit records
Identify and develop community or systems change strategies to eliminate credit-related barriers to employment for survivors
Faculty for this webinar:
Amy Traub, Senior Policy Analyst, Demos
Sara Wee & Erika Sussman, Center for Survivor Agency and Justice
