As an employer, do you have a policy of “Second-chance hiring”? This is recruiting and hiring people with criminal backgrounds and eliminating obstacles to those efforts. This concept is gaining momentum among policymakers, as well as business community leaders and employee advocates.
Thirty-three states and more than 150 cities and counties require ban-the-box policies for public-sector jobs, and laws in many states and cities requiring private-sector employers to “ban-the-box”- a term that refers to the removal of the check box on job applications that applicants mark to indicate they have a criminal history. The laws are intended to give formerly incarcerated job applicants a fairer chance to attain employment.
In an overall, general sense, this means that employers should not be asking this question on the job application. This does not mean that employers should not ask later in the interview process.
Private institutions like, Duke University and Duke University Health System no longer ask individuals whether they have been convicted of a crime as part of the process of applying for employment with their organization. Duke will continue to conduct background checks on criminal history, government sanctions, and driving records (when relevant) at the offer stage for finalists of staff and faculty positions who have been recommended for hire.
There are many items to consider with someone that has a recent violent criminal history. It may depend on the type of job; they may not be considered for a retail or restaurant position where they would interact with the customers, but may be considered for remote telephone or data-entry positions.
With millions of U.S. jobs going unfilled, employers looking for workers would be wise to expand their recruiting and hiring efforts to include people with criminal records.If you are an Employer, contact our experts at POEknows and we’ll help you to be compliant and ask the pertinent questions of those perspective employees with criminal backgrounds.