Give a Fair Chance to Job Candidates with Criminal Records

A short article from the Harvard Business Review.

Don’t reject an applicant based on their criminal record alone.

Give a Fair Chance to Job Candidates with Criminal Records

One way to make good on your company’s commitment to improve its diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts is to implement a “fair-chance hiring” initiative. These programs grant everyone, regardless of criminal background, an opportunity to be fairly assessed for a given role: You only examine the candidate’s criminal record after the person has been interviewed and is considered qualified. To start a fair-chance hiring program at your company, coordinate with your leadership team, human resources, and legal department to make sure everyone is on the same page about the mission, and how you’ll implement the initiative. Then connect with local partners to identify talent. Look for community-based organizations that focus on workforce development for reentry. Conduct skills-based interviews with candidates, and focus on their transferable skills, potential, and willingness to learn rather than their work experience (or lack of it). Finally, when the time comes, assess candidates’ records by considering what they were convicted for, how long it’s been since the offense, and the nature of the job that they’re applying for. Giving everyone a fair shake is an important step in building a more equitable workplace — and society.

 

This tip is adapted from “Give Job Applicants with Criminal Records a Fair Chance,” by Margie Lee-Johnson