Ban the Box
Ban the Box is an anti-discrimination movement aimed at preventing employers from inquiring about an applicant's criminal history on job applications. The initiative seeks to eliminate the check box that asks whether candidates have prior convictions, with the goal of allowing applicants to be evaluated based on their skills and qualifications rather than being automatically disqualified due to their past. Launched in 2004 by the organization All of Us or None, the movement arose from concerns about job and housing discrimination faced by individuals upon re-entering society after incarceration.
As of 2017, twenty-nine states and over 150 cities and counties in the U.S. have adopted some form of Ban the Box legislation, primarily affecting public sector hiring. The campaign has grown to influence private sector hiring practices as well, advocating for a more equitable evaluation process. While proponents argue that this approach helps ensure fairer opportunities, critics contend that it complicates the hiring process and may hinder employers’ ability to screen applicants effectively. Notably, in 2015, President Obama issued guidelines to prohibit federal agencies from asking about criminal convictions during the hiring process, further solidifying the movement's impact. Overall, Ban the Box reflects an ongoing dialogue about the balance between public safety and fair employment practices for individuals with criminal records.
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Ban the Box
The Ban the Box campaign is an anti-discrimination movement to stop employers from asking potential employees about past criminal convictions on job applications. The movement gets its name from the check box on many applications asking if the applicant has a prior criminal history. The goal of the campaign is to delay inquiries into an applicant's background until he or she has advanced farther into the hiring process. By doing so, the hope is that applicants will be judged on their qualifications rather than being automatically excluded. As of 2017, twenty-nine states and more than 150 cities and counties in the United States had passed some form of ban the box legislation.
Overview
The Ban the Box campaign was started in 2004 by the organization All of Us or None, a group of former and current prisoners and their families. The movement grew out of a series of conferences that identified job and housing discrimination as the largest obstacles facing people upon their release from prison. The initial stage of the effort focused on changing government and public sector hiring practices. As the movement found success and gained support online, it shifted toward the private sector.
Although federal employment guidelines allow employers to consider an applicant's prior criminal history, that determination is supposed to be made on a case-by-case basis. Applicants are not supposed to be excluded based solely on past criminal convictions. Applicants are also not supposed to be rejected if they were arrested but not convicted.
Criminal background checks and further inquiries about criminal history are allowed, but proponents of the Ban the Box campaign say many applicants never reach that part of the process. They believe many employers automatically discard applications when they see that the job applicant has a criminal conviction. By removing the check box asking about criminal history, proponents feel applicants will be given a chance to explain their situation and showcase their qualifications.
The effort has gained the support of several legal-aid and advocacy groups, including the National Employment Law Project, a workers' rights organization. Some opponents of the campaign say the criminal-convictions box allows them to better screen job applicants. Others claim the rules make the application process unnecessarily difficult and leaves employers open to future legal action.
In November 2015, President Barack Obama implemented "Fair Chance to Work" guidelines in government hiring practices. His directive prohibited federal agencies from asking about criminal convictions on job applications. By 2017, ban the box legislation had been implemented in more than 150 counties and cities, including San Francisco, Philadelphia, and Washington, DC. Twenty-nine states have policies limiting conviction inquiries for state jobs; nine of those states—Connecticut, Hawaii, Illinois, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, Oregon, Rhode Island, and Vermont—extend those restrictions to private employers.
In many cases, the laws mandate removal of the criminal conviction box on job applications. Other legislation restricts employers from considering certain types of criminal convictions or places a limit on the length of time a conviction can be considered. Some laws only allow employers to consider convictions directly related to specific job requirements.
Bibliography
"About: The Ban the Box Campaign." Ban the Box Campaign, bantheboxcampaign.org/about/#.We-nk2hSyUl. Accessed 25 Oct. 2017.
Ahearn, Thomas. "Ban the Box Laws Scheduled to Take Effect in Three States on July 1." Employment Screening Resources, 30 June 2017, www.esrcheck.com/wordpress/2017/06/30/ban-the-box-laws-scheduled-to-take-effect-in-three-states-on-july-1/. Accessed 25 Oct. 2017.
"All of Us or None." Legal Services for Prisoners with Children, www.prisonerswithchildren.org/our-projects/allofus-or-none/. Accessed 25 Oct. 2017.
Avery, Beth, and Phil Hernandez. "Ban the Box." National Employment Law Project, August 2017, www.nelp.org/content/uploads/Ban-the-Box-Fair-Chance-State-and-Local-Guide.pdf. Accessed 25 Oct. 2017.
Campbell, Anita. "What Employers Need to Know About the 'Ban the Box' Movement." Small Business Trends, 22 Sept. 2015, smallbiztrends.com/2015/05/employers-ban-the-box-movement.html. Accessed 25 Oct. 2017.
"Consideration of Arrest and Conviction Records in Employment Decisions Under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964." US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, 25 Apr. 2012, www.eeoc.gov/laws/guidance/arrest‗conviction.cfm. Accessed 25 Oct. 2017.
Semuels, Alana. "When Banning One Kind of Discrimination Results in Another." Atlantic, 4 Aug. 2016, www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2016/08/consequences-of-ban-the-box/494435/. Accessed 25 Oct. 2017.
Vito, Gennaro F., and Jeffrey R. Maahs. "Employment and Criminal History—Check the Box or Ban the Box?" Criminology: Theory, Research, and Policy, 4th ed. Jones & Bartlett Learning, 2017, p. 159.