The Ministry of Labor has banned companies from consulting job applicants’ credit history on the grounds that this is discriminatory. The measure is contained in Resolution 02-2015 issued on Tuesday, 3 February 2015. “It will be considered a discriminatory practice for obtaining a job, any consultation of personal data relating to the credit history of the applicants for employment in order to use this as a criteria, at the moment of selecting the candidates for appointment in a job, as well as anyone in employment, because it is to be considered as discrimination, exclusion or preference which has the effect of annulling or altering equal opportunity or treatment in the access to employment, permanence in the employment or occupation,” reads the resolution.
Although credit history is considered by law as “personal information,” many companies access it without consent, and use the information in order to decide whether or not to employ a job applicant depending on their credit performance. As a result, hundreds of Dominicans remain trapped in the credit bureaus as non-solvent, while they attempt to obtain employment that will enable them to pay their debts.
In 2013, after several reports from Diario Libre newspaper and articles by financial analyst Alejandro Fernandez W in his column Argentarium, where he exposed the situation in which thousands of people were in, the banks began to relax their policies and create plans to give the “debtors” a “second chance.” Credit bureaus permitted citizens to verify their credit history free of charge. Those affected then launched a campaign “Somos Capaces” (We are capable), whose motto is “How can I pay without a job…?” And they demanded that the Ministry of Labor prohibit the practice.
According to campaign coordinator Victor Tejada Victoriano, 800,000 Dominicans are blacklisted in the credit bureaus and do not have employment. He said that from now on they would be monitoring the situation to ensure that the companies comply with the resolution.