The “Ban the Box” movement is gaining support across the country, boosting the chance of people with criminal records to get jobs, a report says.
Twenty-three states and more than 100 cities and counties nationwide have adopted some form of “Ban the Box,” which prohibits a question on whether the job applicant has a criminal record, according to the National Employment Law Project.
California adopted its initiative in 2013, when Democratic Gov. Jerry Brown signed Assembly Bill 218. It removes the questions about convictions from initial state, city and county job applications.
That allows an employer to consider a job candidate’s qualifications first, without the stigma of a criminal record, according to the March 2016 report.
San Francisco Board of Supervisors unanimously passed the Fair Chance Ordinance in February 2014 after a three-year campaign by multiple human rights and civil rights groups. Most notable was the group “All or None,” which has been a driving force in multiple cities and counties.
The ordinance applies to private employers and affordable housing. It incorporated the 2012 U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission criteria for individualized assessment and the right to appeal denial of employment.
The commission also set a guideline on targeted hiring and fair-chance employment laws that require employers to consider job-relatedness of a conviction, time passed, and mitigating circumstances or rehabilitation evidence, the report stated.
At an event in Oakland, business owners and potential employers discussed the benefits of hiring people with records and re-entry issues.
“I’ve seen how a job makes all the difference,” the report quotes Derreck B. Johnson, founder and president of Home of Chicken and Waffles in Oakland. “When I give someone a chance and he becomes my best employee, I know that I’m doing right by my community.”
The city of Oakland improved its policy in 2010, where the city would notify the applicant of the potential adverse employment action and provide a copy of the background report. It also provides the applicant an opportunity to rebut the accuracy or relevancy of the background report.
Other California counties that have passed a “Ban the Box” law are Alameda and Santa Clara. Cities are Berkeley, Carson, Compton, East Palo Alto, Pasadena and Richmond.
“We should have a fair shake if we are the right person for the job,” San Quentin prisoner Tommy Wickerd said in an interview. “If I fit the criteria to be back in society, a felony shouldn’t hold me back”
Another prisoner, Bo Gentry, said, “People should be judged by their character and not their past. What is behind should not be in front of you.”
