Officials in New Haven voted last night to remove from their job application a question asking applicants about their criminal history. It’s an admirable attempt to give citizens a second chance and reduce high levels of recidivism; something that benefits neither the applicant nor the general population. I personally recognize and commend them on their efforts. But good intentions aside, there could be unintended consequences for the good people of New Haven.
Aldermen vote to ‘ban the box’
NEW HAVEN — In what was characterized as a “landmark piece of legislation,” the Board of Aldermen Tuesday approved a “ban the box” ordinance that will remove the criminal history question from city job applications and require city contractors and vendors to follow suit.
Click on the link to read the full story.
http://www.nhregister.com/articles/2009/02/18/news/a3-banthebox11.txt
Several thoughts come to mind.
“Banning the box” is a growing sentiment. There are several metropolitan areas that have done this. Others considering it.
Applicants with criminal records could be discouraged from applying for a position if they feel a past mistake will automatically disqualify them. I certainly understand that.
It does not appear this town will stop doing background checks. That is very good. It looks like they will be a final part of the process.
The ordinance appears to be in response to a worry that information which isn’t relevant is used to exclude a candidate before their qualifications and nature of the offense(s) are considered. This seems to be an effort by the town to protect them from making bad decisions.
Without getting too deep into the world of public records research, asking applicants to provide information is very important, even if a background check is being conducted. It isn’t a waste of space. There is real, legitimate value if the goal is to consider all information when making a hiring decision.
A quick example. What if your candidate tells you they were convicted of a misdemeanor but the court incorrectly files it as a felony? This is not at all unusual. But if the box is gone, the applicant doesn’t have a chance to tell you, and they’re inadvertently denied a position. An absolute unintended result of the ordinance. So, I don’t fault those who are less aware of the process. But our knowledge of it leads me to believe removing the box entirely is a mistake.
This ordinance extends to private organizations that have contracts with the town. This could be an entire blog post on its own. Each organization will have to weigh competing interests and determine whether they want to continue to work with the city.
If asked, I would recommend continuing to ask the question, but doing so at the end of the process. There is a lot of good within this ordinance. But that seems to be the best way to both evaluate the candidate and use all appropriate information to make a solid hiring decision.
[...] Town of New Haven, CT removes “The Box” [...]
The city and its contractors are still going to continue doing criminal background checks whether the question is asked or not and will still continue denying employment to ex-felons. So really, did the Board think that because the question was eliminated, that ex-felons were going to get an equal chance of obtaining a quality job. NO…NO…and NO! Because once the background check is done and it’s revealed that the applicant was convicted of a felony, does it really matter if he or she is the most qualified for the position, NOPE! The mentality and policies of the city, companies and individuals will remain the same. NO FELONS!!! So in reality, you’ve achived NOTHING!