What is the purpose of employers running credit checks?

Question

It seems to me that employers pay employees. They are not selling to them and also employees need to work to pay off debts. This makes no sense unless their may be a more snotty reason.

Answer 1

Many employers believe running an employment credit check is an absolute must if the applicant under consideration will be handling money, be disbursing money or equipment, or be placed in a position of financial trust, citing a possible correlation between high debt and, for instance, the possibility of embezzlement.

Credit history may reveal several qualities of an applicant's financial status, such as debt load and potential debt load.

Answer 2

Employers usually run criminal checks, not credit checks unless you are joining as a business partner or something.