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Redemption & Certificates of Rehabilitation - 4. Criminal History Records & Employment

  • document cover for 65 Million “Need Not Apply”: The Case for Reforming Criminal Background Checks for Employment

    65 Million “Need Not Apply”: The Case for Reforming Criminal Background Checks for Employment

    The exclusion of individuals with criminal records from employment is examined. People working with soon to be released prisoners or ex-offenders should be aware of this issue. The ability to find gainful employment, one of the critical needs for successful reentry, will be critically impacted by the sometimes unnecessary checking of criminal histories. Six sections are contained in this report: introduction; shutting workers with criminal records out of the job market compromises the economy and public safety; over broad hiring...

  • document cover for Jobs after Jail: Ending the Prison to Poverty Pipeline

    Jobs after Jail: Ending the prison to poverty pipeline

    "In many states and cities, both public and private employers can include a question on application materials requiring applicants to disclose whether or not they have a conviction record. While there is growing momentum to “Ban the Box,” in most cases these efforts only ban the box for public employment ... On average, states have 123 mandatory bans and restrictions for would-be workers with felony convictions per state from employment in occupations or industries, from obtaining certain types of occupational...

  • Criminal Records, Race and Redemption (2014)

    Pinard, Michael. Legislation and Public Policy, 16: 963-997.

    Poor individuals of color disproportionately carry the weight of a criminal record. They confront an array of legal and non-legal barriers, the most prominent of which are housing and employment. Federal, state and local governments are implementing measures aimed at easing the everlasting impact of a criminal record. However, these measures, while laudable, fail to address the disconnection between individuals who believe they have moved past their interactions with the criminal justice system and the ways in which decision makers continue to judge them in the years and decades following those interactions...

  • Strategies for Full Employment Through Reform of the Criminal Justice System (2015)

    Emsellem, Maurice and Jason Ziedenberg. Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.

    Public sentiment and political forces are finally shifting in favor of criminal justice reform, and a wave of promising state and local policies, such as California’s Proposition 47 and fair chance hiring laws, have moved the public debate and brought key stakeholders to the table, including the law enforcement community. With this paper, we seek to broaden the debate by engaging advocates for full employment and promoting a comprehensive agenda for reform.

  • HireRight Employment Screening Benchmark Report (2016)

    HireRight.com.

    The HireRight 2016 Annual Employment Screening Benchmark Survey was performed in October and November 2015. The responses came from several thousand human resources professionals, including HireRight customers, who indicated they were knowledgeable about employment screening and recruiting. The report explores key issues, trends, and underlying business drivers affecting screening programs in U.S. organizations. It also covers policy and practices. The survey notes that "criminal, identity, employment and education verifications remain, by far, the most popular types of background checks."

  • Conducting Background Checks for Employee Selection (2016)

    Aamodt, Michael G. Ph. D. Society for Human Resource Management and Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology.

    Background investigations are used by 86% of organizations in the U.S. to determine if applicants have previously engaged in behaviors that suggest they might engage in future counterproductive behaviors on the job or be a threat to the safety of others. A background investigation might consider some or all of the following: reference checks, credit history, criminal record, driving record, work history, military service, education and personal references. This paper will discuss legal considerations in using two of the most controversial components of...

  • Recruitment, Selection, and Placement (General) and Suitability (2016)

    Federal Register.

    The U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) is proposing to revise its regulations pertaining to when, during the hiring process (unless an exception is granted), a hiring agency can request information typically collected during a background investigation from an applicant for Federal employment. OPM is proposing this change to promote compliance with Merit System Principles as well as the goal of the Federal Interagency Reentry Council and the President's Memorandum of January 31, 2014, “Enhancing Safeguards to Prevent the Undue Denial of Federal Employment Opportunities to the Unemployed and Those Facing Financial Difficulty Through No Fault of Their...

  • Unlicensed & Untapped: Removing Barriers to State Occupational Licenses for People with Records (2016)

    Rodriguez, Michelle Natividad and Beth Avery. National Employment Law Project.

    This paper examines the significant flaws in state occupational licensing criminal background check requirements. One barrier to employment that regularly appears in state occupational licensing laws is the blanket ban, which automatically disqualifies people with certain records. In response to this barrier and others, a comprehensive overhaul of licensing laws is recommended.

  • Criminal Background and Job Performance (2016)

    Minor, Dylan, Nicola Persico and Deborah M. Weiss.

    This paper examines firm-level hiring practices and worker-level performance outcomes. Our data indicate that the typical employee with a criminal record has a psychological profile different from other employees, with fewer characteristics that are associated with good job performance outcomes.

  • Beyond the Box (2016)

    U.S. Department of Education.

    This webpage links to the Beyond the Box Resource Guide and fact sheet. The Guide provides information for colleges and universities to help remove barriers that can prevent the estimated 70 million citizens with criminal records from pursuing higher education, including considering the chilling effect of inquiring early in the application process whether prospective students have ever been arrested. The guide also encourages alternatives to inquiring about criminal histories during college admissions and provides recommendations to support a holistic review of applicants.

  • Legislating Forgiveness: A Study of Post-Conviction Certificates as Policy to Address the Employment Consequences of a Conviction (2016)

    Garretson, Heather J. Public Interest Law Journal, 25:1-41.

    "This paper contains the first comprehensive research on New York’s certificates. The research asks whether New York’s certificates are accessible and relevant to employment. It combines statutory analysis with qualitative research. It is a study of how certificate legislation is supposed to work - and how it actually does. It examines a statutory scheme that is recently replicated but empirically empty. Through interviews with judges, people with certificates or those eligible but without one, attorneys, current and former probation officials, service providers, and advocates, this paper provides insights into the use of...

  • 50-state Guide to Expungement and Restoration of Rights

    This report catalogues and analyzes the various provisions for relief from the collateral consequences of a criminal conviction that are now operating in each of the 50 states. Its goal is to facilitate a national conversation about how people who have been convicted of a crime may best regain their legal rights and social status

  • The Impact of Employment Restriction Laws on Illinois’ Convicted Felons (2016)

    Using the ABA database, Authority researchers examined Illinois state employment statutes to shed light on the impact of collateral consequences on convicted felons in the state. In addition, researchers cross-referenced database information with a 2013 Authority study on state employment restrictions. Results were summarized using the occupational classifications developed by the U.S. Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics.