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Would you hire a criminal?
Sixty-five million Americans—or one in four adults—have a criminal record. But employers—including major companies like Bank of America, Omni Hotel, and Domino’s Pizza—routinely post job ads on Craigslist that explicitly exclude such applicants, according to a new report conducted by the National Employment Law Center (NELP), a labor-affiliated advocacy group.
The practice appears in some cases to be against the law, and at a time of record long-term joblessness, advocates for the poor say it places yet another obstacle in front of people who are working to get their life back on track.
Perhaps most important, effectively making more than one quarter of the American workforce unemployable may be an unsustainable policy for the economy as whole.
Because discriminating against those with criminal records disproportionately hurts African Americans, the practice may violate the Civil Rights Act, which prohibits race-based hiring discrimination. Indeed, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has said that although considering an applicant’s criminal record may be acceptable on a case-by-case basis, an “absolute bar to employment” for such people is illegal.
Last year, plaintiffs brought at least five major civil rights lawsuits against large employers on the issue, but the National Employment Law Project wants the EEOC to enforce the law more vigorously.
There’s not much chance of getting a job with most businesses, not only the national corporations, if you’ve got a record. The military still enlists felons on a case-by-case basis. Looks like without a lot of money to begin with and a good or hungry lawyer, or just some good luck, you’re screwed.
While at one level legalizing wed might solve some problems at another it doesn’t.
No company run by somebody with a brain is going to want a pot head working for them. In too many jobs you need to have the little gray cells actually working up to full speed not barely firing. The same would apply to alcohol on the work site in many cases. They aren’t prudes but an accident can cost them a $1,000,000 or even more.
I agree the legal system is a growing mess. We made it that way. I agree many companies won’t touch people with any sort of criminal record, test positive for a host of drugs and legalizing them won’t change that, or even people who have had financial problems. The last bothers me most.
We might as well be honest here and note that the fed gov and its contractors are a major leading force in this discrimination. Why they should care if some one had money problems at some point escapes me as long as the person sorted it out especially if the person isn’t handling money anyway.
I do have the rather unusual view that a lot of things that are against the law ought not be. It isn’t that I approve of what people are doing so much as I feel that people have the right to live like swine if the wish to.
Of course it’s going to be a plus if the next war in Iran,Libya,Saudi,Patagonia goes a bit out of hand.
The army wouldn’t want to conscript anyone who had smoked a joint or downloaded an MP3.
It’s going to skew the profile of the cannon fodder a little if they are all middle class white guys in their 40s!
What about when cities require criminal background checks to anyone who is renting?
It would also appear that alf won’t pass the prescribed drug test or the background check.
Petty crImes like pot are ruining lives, costs untold billions to passify the loon Replipukes and Teabaggers. On the other end, criminals like Wisconsin elected teabagger whatshisface, carries on with massive corruption and preventing American families a seat at the negotiation table.
Loons like Alphie the Teabagger have no problem handing over the future of our country to corporations making American workers comprte with cheap child labor in China.