Want to find more workers? Make it easier to hire people with criminal records.
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22 thoughts on “Want to find more workers? Make it easier to hire people with criminal records.”
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When I was released from prison in 2010 I was lucky. I had taken a small gas engine class while locked up. Also a few of us had gotten it’s set up to get industry certifications. We had to pay for them, but it did help. I got a job in a couple of weeks. Then when there was no grass growing, things got slow and I was laid off. I started doing telemarketing. It sucked, but I could pay my bills. If I didn’t think about whether I was screwing people or not I did good. Did that for 8 years then they closed. Now I live in a different state, tons of industrial jobs around here. But… Can’t send to get hired because of background. Not sure what something from 15 years ago has to do with me making parts on a line. So it is frustrating personally, but also I see all the now hiring signs but they just don’t get it. Not every person who has done wrong before will do wrong again. It takes a village to raise a child, but shouldn’t that same village have compassion to pick people up later in life, to benefit the whole.
Confused
Yeah when I first got out of prison, I was amazed at all the places that hired ex felons. I never had a problem finding a job. Then once the registry really started ramping up with photos, addresses, and more, places started avoiding the exposure of having a scary sex offender working on the premises.
One place I worked for 11 years, someone came in and hung flyers on every isle of the store. The store manager stood up for me. But then someone complained to corporate and the manager AND me both got fired. He had been with the company for 22 years, me for 11. And of course they put down false reasons why we were both fired. “Performance issues”.
I’d love to read the full article but I’m not giving WaPo my money for a subscription when so many other news outlets are free.
Aside from that, we’re in a society that sees us (or anyone with a criminal record) as being unworthy of anything above a fast food or dishwasher job. I guess that’s that “Christian values” for you.
Maestro
You cannot blame “Christian” values for everything. To be a Christian means to be a “Follower of Christ”. It does not mean you are perfect. Having said that, when you tell someone you are a Christian, you have to be careful, because the first time you make a mistake, someone is there to point out “OMG , you did not just say that, I thought you were a Christian”.
I am a Christian and have been since I was a young boy. We are far from perfect. Although I know a few Atheist who are generally better people than I am. That is why I do not put Bumper stickers on my car such as “Honk if you love Jesus”. Not because I am Ashamed, but the first time you accidently cut someone off, they say to their passengers “See that is why I am not a Christian, that hypocrite just cut me off”.
Being a Christian and not being perfect gets thrown in our faces a lot. Perfection does not come until we are called home. That does not give us an excuse to act however we want, but as Humans, we have faults that sometimes cannot be avoided.
You are not the “Christian” I was referring to. I assumed you’d have caught on. You’re not the one turning people away for jobs or putting them on a lifetime registry or retroactively putting them on a registry. Please understand who I am referring to and stop defending YOURself when I mention “Christians”.
Even when I was into Christianity, I would still say what I say about people who claim to be so “Christ like” (and I’m not talking about being cut off on a highway).
I don’t mean to come off rude to you, Cherokee, but come on.
And my opinion is my opinion.
Maestro
Any felony conviction is seen by society and perspective employers as a “character flaw.” If that wasn’t bad enough, compound that stigma with the hit list label stigma and it’s basically social death.
After I got off probation, I figured it would be easier to get a job. I had a lot of friends in high places. I was sent to places to apply and got right in to an interview based on referrals from these respected people.
As soon as I was honest with the hiring manager about having a criminal history, they would say “That shouldn’t be a problem”. Having said that, once I came back as a registered outcast, I was told the “position had been filled”.
It was so bad that, even janitorial positions didn’t want me. One of those places, the owner himself was an ex-con. But he told me “Sorry, I draw the line with hiring, when it comes to sex offenders”
Employers need to get the heads out of their tails and realize the labor pool they’ve neglected. I suspect billions in revenue is lost every year because of discrimination against registrants and ex-felons.
I have personally been effected by this. I worked for 7 years straight. My first company was purchased by another and I kept my job with the new company. Then the company sold and I lost my job while almost all of my coworkers kept their job. I am fairly certain it was because I was on the registry and had to notify the employer. Since then I’ve had 3 job offers that were pulled after I notified them I was on the registry. All of these jobs have been in the oil industry where no one under 18 is allowed to be. My offense is a misdemeanor from 20 years ago. But thanks to the news and the unrealistic information they spread people don’t want to hire anyone on the registry.
There is a program backed by the federal government through travelers insurance to insure companies against felony hires. The program is free for 6 months to the employer and it’s low cost after that. I used to be an employer and I would hire people specifically who were on the registry as much as I could. I never used the program but I did explore it and it seemed to be pretty good. I don’t know why more employers aren’t aware of it. I also don’t understand why we were able in world war II to take people off the street and turn them into machinists but we can’t do that with our release programs. Even go to college all you want in prison but you can’t really use the degrees that you get because no one will hire you. There should be government incentives to hire people. Some of the fast food places will hire. If you can get into a private owned company and explain your situation to them they are more apt to hire you as well. I have been in situations where an employer was upset because they found out and I hadn’t told them. So I’ve never been quite clear on how I am to approach that. Do I take the job without telling them or do I tell them and maybe not get the job at all?
@Ben,
Does said job have anything, anything whatsoever, to do with your past. No? They don’t “need to know.” You are not defined by past criminal behavior. You are defined by who you are today. Do not ever let anyone take that away from you, ever.
Although… If you happen to be on supervision it’s necessary to inform the prospective employer as to why you are being supervised.
My advice is that you be 100% honest and up front with prospective employers. If you don’t tell them, you are almost certain to get fired when they find out (and they always do, sooner or later). If you tell them from the start, the ones who would have fired you won’t deal with you, which just saves you time and avoids grief. Give them all of the information, including the court and case number so they can look it up if they want to. That will instill some confidence in them that you have been fully candid. I was summarily expelled by the University of Miami while in graduate school there in 2004 when the law changed to require notification to institutions of higher education (the application for admission at that time didn’t even ask about arrests or convictions), but I picked myself up off the floor and ended up completing graduate programs at New York University and Penn State, both of which knew about my criminal conviction and still accepted me. I am now enrolled in a specialist degree program at the University of Virginia, which asked about all prior arrests/convictions. On the application, I provided them with every detail, including the case number and a link to my FDLE flyer, and I was admitted with no further questions about my background. I’m now in my third semester of that program. I of course registered all of these university enrollments with FDLE through the online system and to the best of my knowledge, FDLE did not contact the universities (or if they did, no one from any of the universities ever mentioned it to me).
Of course, the more serious the offense, the harder it will probably be to find someone to hire you (which I think is obvious). I have worked full-time in a professional job in Miami with just two employers since 2003 (one from 2003-2016, and the other from 2016-now, which was a step up in my profession), and have run a successful side business during most of that time as well. All of this employment (and self-employment) has been registered and since my probation ended in 2008, none of my employers have been contacted by FDLE or the Miami-Dade Police Department. I’m sure I have lost some private clients who looked me up online, but I have many consistent, long-term clients who I’m almost certain have Googled me (my FDLE sex offender page is usually in the top 10 hits for my name, which is not a common name). So there is hope. I am proof of that. Don’t give up. Keep trying. And be honest.
Thank God for some good ol’ advice!! Always tell them upfront and only the main boss needs to know.. Everybody else whatever.. Remember once 7 years has passed most companies see that you have turned the corner in your life and do not do those same crimes anymore.. Remember make a job out of getting a job and you will get one.. Use your SUPPORT systems meaning family, frieinds, your preacher at your church. If no preacher, then start going and watch the floodgates open pouring blessings into your life. Use the registry against them! Look up by zip code other offenders, and see where they are working. If they will hire one, they may hire you!
Does that insurance program include sex offenders? Because of the constant barrage of misinformation, e.g. “frightening and high,” employers fear they could be sued if a former sex offender were to sexually harass or even assault another employee. We all know this is BS and extremely unlikely. The mere existence of the registry generates irrational fear of former offenders and is then offered as a purported remedy by its proponents.
Veritas