So…you can’t not hire a criminal, because they might sue you. You hire the criminal, they steal from you and you can’t fire them because they might get their little feelings hurt and sue you for a civil rights violation through the EEOC.
I’m so tired of the government protecting the rights of everyone but those who work and pay taxes so they can frivilously spend our money. When is someone going to stand up for MY rights. How about we get the right to choose where our tax dollars go? I guarantee you mine would NOT go to fund welfare benefits for anyone under 60 that is not disabled unless they are trying to help themselves.
Lynn, you mis-read this. This DOES stand up for your rights!
You, I, and everyone else in this great country have the right to the presumption of innocence until the state proves our guilt in a court of law as decided by a jury of our peers.
An employer that refuses to hire you based on an arrest–but NOT a conviction–is violating your rights.
You, I, or anyone else reading this post can be arrested at any time and for any reason. A simple case of mistaken identity resulting in an arrest record might cost you job after job after job because every single employer trashes your resume as soon as they get the call that Lynn Doe has a prior arrest on file. They might never hear that the charge was bogus and only resulted due to an error. And you might never know what happened– all you might know is that you never got a call back after your interview.
Believe it! This happened to a friend of mine for the most bogus reason ever when she got into an accident in a company vehicle. Then through a series of blunders by the DMV and the company she worked for she was arrested. They vacated it but her mugshot is on the internet forever for everyone to see. Its been over a year and she still gets misinformed coworkers printing off her mugshot and leaving it on her chair at work.
Matt,
I believe you misunderstood Lynn. A criminal means convicted, not just arrested. Can you not see the difference here?
I don’t want to be forced to hire someone with a conviction on their hands simply out of fear of being sued for discrimination. An employer shouldn’t have to be worried about that. Using Race etc. to bolster your position and as a fear tactic is wrong on so many levels.
Here’s the truth. Would you, as an employer, want to hire someone who was arrested and indicted for rape 5 times, but the case was dropped each time because the alleged victims would not testify? If you hire this person, then your workforce knows this person’s history, and it impacts their work. Let the alleged rapist work at a shrimp dock rather than scaring an entire workforce. Yes…innocent until proven guilty. But any human resources manager would want to avoid hiring this person because it would adversely impact the rest of the workforce. The EEOC wants employers to treat applicants equally. That makes sense. But some people have put themselves in positions, regardless of race, that harms their chances to land a job. That is THEIR fault, not an employers.
I applaud the EEOC efforts for updating policy on criminal background checks, although it should include all people not just minorities. Thank God there are some intelligent people who hold positions of power. This is important Federal regulation because laws differ by state. Not all states have the same statues. While some states are more lenient and forgiving, others states condemn you for life. While some actions are again law in one state, they are not in others. Some states expunged all criminal records, while other do not. Some state offer classes to prevent convictions while other do not. Some states have “ban the box” while other have not.
Furthermore, just because you have never been arrested does not accurately reflect that you have never broken the law. It just reflects that you have never been caught. This regulations help qualified people get jobs so they can feed their families instead of relying financially on government support, which helps to secure everyone’s economy. To reduce discrimination further and amend the FCRA Section 605(a) to its original state prior to November 2, 1998 limiting the reporting of criminal convictions by Consumer Reporting Agencies to only seven years, thus removing the current unlimited reporting length of time. For those people concern with equality for all Americans register and sign the petition on the following link:
As a hiring manager for over 25 years in call centers, I can tell you that hiring anyone with a criminal record would not be wise. We have access to credit card information. So let me ask you, would you want a criminal having your credit card information (or your address!)?
You break the law and there are consequences…some of which involve your future employment.
First, to be fearful of having to hiring people with criminal records is moot, because you can say you didn’t hire the individual for any number of reasons other than the record and avoid charges completely.
Second, don’t you believe it’s possible for someone to change? A criminal record often sits on a person’s shoulders like some terrible albatross, even years after they’ve corrected their course. People judge them so much that it’s difficult for them to find work, which often pushes them back into poverty. Given the same security and comfort as the average American citizen, these people might never have committed a crime in the first place. Now, because they made a mistake, they should be barred from the chance to improve? “Once a criminal, always a criminal” is not true or fair.
Lastly, someone with a criminal record isn’t automatically a thief. There are lots of ways to obtain a criminal record — some of which could be completely accidental or harmless, as indicated above.
So…you can’t not hire a criminal, because they might sue you. You hire the criminal, they steal from you and you can’t fire them because they might get their little feelings hurt and sue you for a civil rights violation through the EEOC.
I’m so tired of the government protecting the rights of everyone but those who work and pay taxes so they can frivilously spend our money. When is someone going to stand up for MY rights. How about we get the right to choose where our tax dollars go? I guarantee you mine would NOT go to fund welfare benefits for anyone under 60 that is not disabled unless they are trying to help themselves.
Lynn, you mis-read this. This DOES stand up for your rights!
You, I, and everyone else in this great country have the right to the presumption of innocence until the state proves our guilt in a court of law as decided by a jury of our peers.
An employer that refuses to hire you based on an arrest–but NOT a conviction–is violating your rights.
You, I, or anyone else reading this post can be arrested at any time and for any reason. A simple case of mistaken identity resulting in an arrest record might cost you job after job after job because every single employer trashes your resume as soon as they get the call that Lynn Doe has a prior arrest on file. They might never hear that the charge was bogus and only resulted due to an error. And you might never know what happened– all you might know is that you never got a call back after your interview.
Believe it! This happened to a friend of mine for the most bogus reason ever when she got into an accident in a company vehicle. Then through a series of blunders by the DMV and the company she worked for she was arrested. They vacated it but her mugshot is on the internet forever for everyone to see. Its been over a year and she still gets misinformed coworkers printing off her mugshot and leaving it on her chair at work.
Matt,
I believe you misunderstood Lynn. A criminal means convicted, not just arrested. Can you not see the difference here?
I don’t want to be forced to hire someone with a conviction on their hands simply out of fear of being sued for discrimination. An employer shouldn’t have to be worried about that. Using Race etc. to bolster your position and as a fear tactic is wrong on so many levels.
Here’s the truth. Would you, as an employer, want to hire someone who was arrested and indicted for rape 5 times, but the case was dropped each time because the alleged victims would not testify? If you hire this person, then your workforce knows this person’s history, and it impacts their work. Let the alleged rapist work at a shrimp dock rather than scaring an entire workforce. Yes…innocent until proven guilty. But any human resources manager would want to avoid hiring this person because it would adversely impact the rest of the workforce. The EEOC wants employers to treat applicants equally. That makes sense. But some people have put themselves in positions, regardless of race, that harms their chances to land a job. That is THEIR fault, not an employers.
That is very ignorant to assume that an arrest is for a violent crime and not a traffic crime.
I applaud the EEOC efforts for updating policy on criminal background checks, although it should include all people not just minorities. Thank God there are some intelligent people who hold positions of power. This is important Federal regulation because laws differ by state. Not all states have the same statues. While some states are more lenient and forgiving, others states condemn you for life. While some actions are again law in one state, they are not in others. Some states expunged all criminal records, while other do not. Some state offer classes to prevent convictions while other do not. Some states have “ban the box” while other have not.
Furthermore, just because you have never been arrested does not accurately reflect that you have never broken the law. It just reflects that you have never been caught. This regulations help qualified people get jobs so they can feed their families instead of relying financially on government support, which helps to secure everyone’s economy. To reduce discrimination further and amend the FCRA Section 605(a) to its original state prior to November 2, 1998 limiting the reporting of criminal convictions by Consumer Reporting Agencies to only seven years, thus removing the current unlimited reporting length of time. For those people concern with equality for all Americans register and sign the petition on the following link:
https://wwws.whitehouse.gov/petitions/!/petition/help-more-qualified-americans-get-jobs/DV1tFsJ8
As a hiring manager for over 25 years in call centers, I can tell you that hiring anyone with a criminal record would not be wise. We have access to credit card information. So let me ask you, would you want a criminal having your credit card information (or your address!)?
You break the law and there are consequences…some of which involve your future employment.
First, to be fearful of having to hiring people with criminal records is moot, because you can say you didn’t hire the individual for any number of reasons other than the record and avoid charges completely.
Second, don’t you believe it’s possible for someone to change? A criminal record often sits on a person’s shoulders like some terrible albatross, even years after they’ve corrected their course. People judge them so much that it’s difficult for them to find work, which often pushes them back into poverty. Given the same security and comfort as the average American citizen, these people might never have committed a crime in the first place. Now, because they made a mistake, they should be barred from the chance to improve? “Once a criminal, always a criminal” is not true or fair.
Lastly, someone with a criminal record isn’t automatically a thief. There are lots of ways to obtain a criminal record — some of which could be completely accidental or harmless, as indicated above.