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Sellers James
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over 6 months ago

Its sad that i actually have a bachelor's degree but since im a convicted felon i cant get nothing but warehouse or general labor jobs. So much for a second chance

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Anthony Harrington
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over 6 months ago

What is "Ban the Box"? From Wikipedia: 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.

Plainly put, it allows individuals with criminal backgrounds to be seen as equals with their non-felon counterparts when applying for jobs. It simply seeks to remove the "Are you a convicted felon" check box from applications.

Plus: It truly does allow an individual to be seen based solely on the merits of their work history and skills that they can bring to the table without the stigma of a conviction causing their application to be dropped directly into the slush pile.

For many with criminal backgrounds, frustration stems from the fact that they can't even seem to land an interview because they are truthfully answering a disqualifying question. With the proposed banning of this checkbox, employers are guaranteed to at least lay eyes on a resume and see the qualifications of the individual.

Minus: While on the front end this is a huge win for those with criminal backgrounds, who have paid their debt to society and are ready to re-enter society and make right, it also sets them up for disappointment just slightly further into the process.

At what point do applicants come clean about their past? If the prospective employer doesn't run criminal background checks as part of an offer of employment, then no harm/no foul. If, however, a check is run and an offer is contingent upon a clean background, it could signal the end of the road for those with convictions on their record. It would be a detrimental blow for an individual to have come so far into the process only to be turned away at the eleventh hour. Additionally, with the Ban the Box law implemented in some states already, will we see higher instances of background checks being run to compensate for employers not being able to ask the question on the front end?

Is it better have the box and know where you stand as an applicant up front, or ban the box and get cut from consideration well into a promising process?

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Mattie Comer
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over 6 months ago

A week ago, a jobcase poster indicated that he thought his felony conviction was probably the cause of him not getting selected for a particular position. At that time, I indicated that, at least in California and I suspected elsewhere, that a felony conviction could no longer be a automatic dismissal for consideration for a position. This is the "statement" that employers are now posting; "We will consider for employment qualified applicants with criminal histories in a manner consistent with the requirements of the Los Angeles Fair Chance Initiative for Hiring". I am not sure if this is true in other States, but it does bear looking into.

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Fred Goff
CEO and Founder of JobcaseBullet point
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CEO and Founder of Jobcase
over 6 months ago

What do you all think about the Ban the Box initiative. This is the bipartisan legislation that Corey Booker and Rob Portman, among others, are sponsoring which would stop employers from asking about criminal history on applications. Heres' 2 links if you are interested.
https://www.shrm.org/resourcesandtools/hr-topics/talent-acquisition/pages/ban-the-box-bill-federal-jobs.aspx https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2016/08/consequences-of-ban-the-box/494435/

#banthebox #secondchances #incarceration #criminalhistory #felon #employmentlaw

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Mia Gardner
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over 6 months ago

Ban the Box Laws to pass in Missouri which will eliminate the criminal background disclosure on job applications but does this have any impact on the BackGround Check? http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/missouri-removing-box-on-convictions-from-job-applications/article_b24ad8c8-458e-5d2c-8d78-2c3551de71cd.html

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