Can an employer demand an employee to have a credit reference undertaken? Is this legal?

yes. its very much legal

I applied for a position in the company I work with now and they are requesting one, they look for bankruptcy and CCJs

If you work in a job where credit profile is relevant to your suitability as an employee then the chances are your contract of employment already specifies that clear credit checks are a condition of employment and the employer can do this If so it is "legal" to the extent that they have a contractual right to do it. If there is no contractual right then you have the option to agreee or disagree.If you do not and they insist you may have to consider other career opportunities.

In western and European countries, Credit referencing and credit rating are a regular affair. You can rate yourself by their processes. Based on these Credit References they even lend credit. Oflate, even the Asean companies are doing this credit and the parameter of this procedure is Basel II implementation by all the Banks and NBFCs. In India, the RBI has taken the initiative to issue licences to a few companies who will perform this business soon. Even Tata Group has shown interest in this business and have applied for Licence to RBI along with Equifax and other companies. Soon this will become a reality in India too.

It is 100% legal. If a person has bad credit, there is a question as to how well they can manage their job. There are is a higher chance of theft or other issues.

Most companies now a days do a credit check. It is 100% legal. I woud never hire someone without it.

Poor credit would not eliminate someone, but it would raise flags.

He can demand, sure. The employee can refuse to authorize it. In "most" states he could then be fired.

No State that I know of restricts the employers authority to ask for a credit check. MANY employers do it these days.

Richard

Lots of places now do credit refence checks ie Building Societies, Banks and basically anything to do with money/cash.

i would say it is legal.

if i had to guess as to why....depending on the job applied for..

it could be to see if you might be tempted to steal due to bad financial state..

could be to see how dependable you are....

or for something else.

if you really want this job then tell your boss you will do it but politely state you are unclear why this information is needed and could they explain this process to you..

if it makes sense than you'll feel better.

if it sounds crazy(because employers can be crooks to)

then leave..

good luck and God bless.

I have no idea what is the law of the land you live in,but it should be quite legal,particularily if the job involves monetary transactions.

Yes if your are working in certain areas, for example if you work in a bank they need to check these things.

it can happen,but only usually if you are applying to work in the financial services i.e a bank etc!

hope this helps