“Everyone deserves a second chance but not at the expense of innocents such as my sister,” declared Lucia Bone, whose sister, Cathy Sue Weaver, was raped and beaten to death in 2001 by a department store contractor hired to clean the air ducts in her home (Bone). Cathy’s family later discovered the employee had two previous sexual assault charges (Bone). Richard Walker, a former teacher, developed an addiction to cocaine and ended up serving 14 months in jail (Zeidner). He knew that his conviction would bar him from the teaching profession, but what he did not expect was how that conviction would disqualify him from every job opportunity (Zeidner). Cathy Weaver and Richard Walker’s stories are real life examples of the types of obstacles
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However, lack of a civil rights law, does not give an organization the right to establish a blanket no-hire policy against ex-offenders, which automatically bans them from employment opportunities; such practices leave a business susceptible to discrimination lawsuits. For this reason, on April 25, 2012, the eeoc issued its Enforcement Guidance on the Consideration of Arrest and Conviction Records in Employment Decisions Under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Under the new guidelines, the eeoc states that is does not have the authority to probhibit employers from obtainings or using arrest or conviction reords; it only wants to ensure that the information is not used in a discriminatory way. Under the new enforcement guidelines on the use of arrest and conviction records in employment …show more content…
While title VII does not mention the discrimination of an applicant based on a criminal record, the EEOC has addressed guidelines for employers to consider. In fact, many states have now passed regulations to “ban the box” on employment applications which asks if applicants have a criminal record. While most organizations focus on the negative aspects of hiring applicants with a criminal record, there are positive aspects, such as tax incentives and credits, to businesses who make the effort to hire applicants with a criminal past. In fact, many successful corporations that hiring ex-offenders is way to promote their cause of social responsibility. There are programs in my states, including Missouri, which have employment programs to help assimilate incarcerated individuals back into the
However, lack of a civil rights law, does not give an organization the right to establish a blanket no-hire policy against ex-offenders, which automatically bans them from employment opportunities; such practices leave a business susceptible to discrimination lawsuits. For this reason, on April 25, 2012, the eeoc issued its Enforcement Guidance on the Consideration of Arrest and Conviction Records in Employment Decisions Under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Under the new guidelines, the eeoc states that is does not have the authority to probhibit employers from obtainings or using arrest or conviction reords; it only wants to ensure that the information is not used in a discriminatory way. Under the new enforcement guidelines on the use of arrest and conviction records in employment …show more content…
While title VII does not mention the discrimination of an applicant based on a criminal record, the EEOC has addressed guidelines for employers to consider. In fact, many states have now passed regulations to “ban the box” on employment applications which asks if applicants have a criminal record. While most organizations focus on the negative aspects of hiring applicants with a criminal record, there are positive aspects, such as tax incentives and credits, to businesses who make the effort to hire applicants with a criminal past. In fact, many successful corporations that hiring ex-offenders is way to promote their cause of social responsibility. There are programs in my states, including Missouri, which have employment programs to help assimilate incarcerated individuals back into the