In a January, 2015 report, reflecting the growing political consensus behind “smart on crime” reforms, the National Employment Law Project (NELP) is making the case for a federal Ban the Box initiative. In great part because more than 100 jurisdictions, including 13 states, the District of Columbia and 96 cities and counties, have embraced “fair chance” hiring policies by adopting “ban the box” and other hiring reforms. The report, entitled – Advancing a Federal Fair Chance Hiring Agenda, says the federal government should build on this momentous wave of support for public and private-sector hiring reforms.
This paper makes the case for a federal fair-chance-hiring administrative initiative—including an Executive Order and Presidential Memorandum—that ensures that both federal agencies and federal contractors are leading the way to create job opportunities for qualified people with criminal records. Since 2013, POE has been recommending that our clients adopt the Ban the Box movement.
It is snowballing across the country and, although it restricts when in the hiring process questions may be asked about criminal activity, it does not stop us from inquiring about criminal history and does not stop employers from conducting criminal background checks.