September 7, 2026 at 8:55 am

A Boss Demanded He Pay $60 Out-of-Pocket for a Background Check—Then Axed Him Before His First Day Even Started

by Matthew Gilligan

man on a phone call

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The fees some people are paying these days to even APPLY for jobs is really getting out of hand.

And this, my friends, is yet another example of how some companies are ripping folks off…when they don’t even work at these companies!

The guy who wrote this story is not too happy that he had to fork over 60 bucks to get his fingerprints taken…and then he didn’t end up getting the job.

Check out what he had to say.

Spent $60 to get fingerprinted only for owner to say, actually, you don’t have a car so, no.

“I’m furious at the moment because I told the owner of an after-school business that I didn’t have a car and wasn’t sure if it would work out, since we have to carry around two Rubbermaid bins to each school.

That’s not a problem, he said, I can drop the bins off myself to your locations – that shouldn’t stop you from continuing with us!

That’s pretty expensive…

In my state you are required to get fingerprinted for background check for any job working with kids, and it is often out of your pocket (now $60 here).

Well, I show up on the first day of the job today for training (the background check didn’t even have a chance to return yet, as I just got it done yesterday, and mine’s clean).

Come on, man!

He said, I don’t know how this is going to work out with you not having a car. Thanks anyway.

So I spent $60 to not have a job.

Just going to focus on my self-employment for now.”

Now check out what folks had to say about this on Reddit.

This person weighed in.

Screenshot 2026 09 01 at 5.18.34 PM A Boss Demanded He Pay $60 Out of Pocket for a Background Check—Then Axed Him Before His First Day Even Started

Another individual nailed it.

Screenshot 2026 09 01 at 5.18.43 PM A Boss Demanded He Pay $60 Out of Pocket for a Background Check—Then Axed Him Before His First Day Even Started

This Reddit user shared their thoughts.

Screenshot 2026 09 01 at 5.18.52 PM A Boss Demanded He Pay $60 Out of Pocket for a Background Check—Then Axed Him Before His First Day Even Started

If you enjoyed this story, check out this post about an ex-Army vet who quit his security guard job after he doesn’t get a promised raise.

And another reader weighed in.

Screenshot 2026 09 01 at 5.19.00 PM A Boss Demanded He Pay $60 Out of Pocket for a Background Check—Then Axed Him Before His First Day Even Started

I’d be pretty fired up about this, too!

60 bucks isn’t chump change!

Good grief!

He probably dodged a bullet by not having to work for this guy…

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