An article in the October 19,
2014, issue of The Dallas Morning News, on
page 1J “Job Search with Felony
Record Not Impossible” describes the National Employment Law Project
(NELP). Frequently, ex-offenders are
denied a job when the employers ask individuals if they have a criminal record
on an application form. Many states have
accepted state-wide band-the-box fair hiring laws.
Ban the box is the name of an
international campaign by civil rights groups and advocates
for ex-offenders, aimed at persuading employers to remove from their hiring applications the check box that asks if applicants have a criminal record. Its purpose is to
enable ex-offenders to display their qualifications in the hiring process
before being asked about their criminal records. The premise of the
campaign is that anything that makes it harder for ex-offenders to find a job
makes it likelier that they will re-offend, which is bad for society. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ban_the_box
Here is additional
information about this subject:
Employment Rights of
Workers with Criminal Records
Workers
with a criminal record - even a minor record dating back many years- often have
a difficult time finding employment, especially given the proliferation of
criminal background checks. For example, a major survey of Los Angeles
employers found that over 60% of employers would "probably not" or
"definitely not" be willing to hire an applicant with a criminal record.
Although
employers may (to varying legal degrees) consider a worker's criminal history
as part of the application process, employers often fail to comply with a range
of federal and state laws that provide fundamental protections against abuse of
criminal background checks. As a result, far too many hard-working people
are wrongly denied employment, often in growing industries with serious labor
shortages.
Of
special importance, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has
concluded that because African American and Latino workers are arrested and
convicted more often than whites, hiring policies that exclude workers with a
criminal record may discriminate in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights
Act of 1964. In addition, the nation's federal consumer protection law (the
Fair Credit Reporting Act) requires accuracy in background checks conducted by
private screening firms, and mandates that employers provide a copy of
background check reports to workers before any adverse employment decision is
taken.
In
partnership with community groups and legal advocates, NELP has initiated a new
program to enforce these critical employment protections by:
·
Making presentations to regional EEOC offices,
workforce development specialists, public defenders, unions and other key
organizations to help spread the word about civil rights and consumer rights
protections.
·
Educating
employers about the EEOC's Title VII standards that apply to people of color
who are denied employment based on an arrest or conviction record.
·
Offering
legal assistance in special cases to workers who want to enforce their anti-discrimination
rights by filing Title VII discrimination complaints with the EEOC.
For more information
about work in this area, please contact Madeline Neighly, mneighly@nelp.org, or Michelle Natividad Rodriguez, mrodriguez@nelp.org
Other key resources:
I have counseled many
ex-offenders that find their employment opportunities limited even if their
offense occurred years ago. I support
these initiatives to assist such individuals in returning to the workforce.
Please comment in this bIog
or email at mailto:glynjordan@gmail.com your opinion
about the ban-the-box fair hiring laws.
Thanks!
Glyn
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