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More Ban the Box

frogpond1
frogpond1
An often talked about topic here so here is another good article. While we have a long way to go in the almost three years that my case has plodded along I've seen some good glimmers of hope.

http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2016/04/20/3770735/ban-the-box-stories/
peace2all
peace2all
This is a good first step to get you an interview, but how does it help you once they do a background check?
frogpond1
frogpond1
I would hope that once the employer reaches that stage and realizes your qualified you can explain your case. Not all employers are douche bags and some want to actually offer second chances.
joehillsghost
joehillsghost
The problem I have had is that the local manager is not the person who makes the final hiring decision. So, even if you have a great interview and are offered a job initially, corporate HR can come back and deny you the job after conducting a background check. I have had few problems with people, but bureaucracy sucks.
KnowNot
KnowNot
My ex has had that issue many times. The store manager wants to hire him knowing his conviction and status, but his background check always comes back as not hireable.
LegalGuardian
LegalGuardian
While I know the arguments used to favor banning the box, I do not believe it to be all that useful.

First, an easy way around the intent of ban the box is to require every applicant to complete form with their job application granting consent to do a background check. In doing this, you immediately obtain their date of birth and social security number, and any criminal history. On that form, an employer is permitted to ask the applicant if they have a criminal history, along with the history of their residence, alias names used, and other information. So what good does it do to ban the box on the application itself?

Second, banning the box to require the employer to ask questions in the interview only wastes time and money. If I were doing the interview, the first question I would ask is, do you have any criminal history and if they said yes, I would say thanks for coming but we don't hire people with a felony history if that were the employer's policy.

It would be far better for state's to target these corporations who profit off of prison slave labor to require them to hire an ex-inmate once released from prison, as a condition of being permitted to use inmate labor while they are in prison. This would do a far better job in helping to reduce unemployment rates.