How To Find If Your New Employee Is Bankrupt

Worried about the credit history of a potential employee? This is a logical fear to have. If the person you plan to hire is going to handle your money in any way, you may want to make sure he or she has a good background with it. A simple check for bankruptcy will ease your concerns and allow you to pursue further work with the person.

Let’s explore some different methods for finding out if a new employee is bankrupt so you can make a final decision about your hiring.

Ask About Bankruptcy In Your Job Application

Leave a space in your job applications that asks the applicants about bankruptcy. You can start with a yes or no question that says “Have you filed bankruptcy in the past X years?” Fill in the “X” with the amount of time you are concerned with, keeping in mind that bankruptcy will only stay on a person’s credit for seven years.

You may add a second section that allows people to explain the circumstances surrounding their bankruptcy, like divorce, medical bills, etc. See if your potential employees are honest from the start. If so, you won’t have to do any investigating at all.

Check The Applicant’s Credit History

If you get permission to check your employee’s credit history, you will be able to see the bankruptcy on there. In order to do this, you will need to have written permission from the applicant to access his or her credit, per the laws outlined in the Fair Credit Reporting Act. If you get the person’s social security number and permission to look at his or her credit, you can easily see if there is a bankruptcy on file.

Sign Up For Public Access To Court Electronic Records

When all else fails, you can access bankruptcy records and similar public information with PACER (Public Access to Court Electronic Records). This will require you to sign up for an online account with the federal government. After completing your application, you can search for public records and discover the truth about your applicant’s bankruptcy. Just note that there is a charge per search and per page when using this service.

Does Bankruptcy Really Matter?

Now that you know how to find out if the person you’re hiring is bankrupt, you need to figure out how relevant this is to your employment evaluation. This is especially true if you are hiring an employee with no connection with the finances of your business. Consider the financial struggles you have gone through in life. Did they ever impact your employer? Most people are able to separate their personal practices from their business practices, so you may have nothing to worry about.