In Rhode Island, as we’ve seen in other states, the “ban the box” legislation has been increasing in popularity as well as enforcement. If by chance you have not heard the latest, several states have removed the check box on job applications that asks the candidate if they have been convicted of a crime-an issue we have blogged about frequently.
Recently, as reported in an article by the Brown Daily Herald, Representative Scott Slater, has been working to ban the box in the state of Rhode Island. Slater stated that applicants deserve:
“a chance to be considered on their qualifications, not immediately rejected from consideration because of a wrong decision in their past for which they have paid their debt to society.”
While this is a valid reason to remove the box from job applications, and there are many lawsuits to prove that employers have unjustly disqualified job candidates because of criminal history, I thought it might be interesting to look at one result from our 2013 Employment Screening Trends Survey, which revealed an interesting statistic based on the response of hundreds of hiring managers from a variety of industries.
Our survey revealed that 79% of respondents still ask for self-disclosure from their applicants, despite the latest EEOC guidance. Along with that, an overwhelming percentage of 52% said they would be more willing to hire a candidate who self-disclosed criminal history. In addition, 40% said that it would make no difference for their hiring decision if the applicant self-disclosed criminal history, and from that we might be able to infer that the box really doesn’t make that much of a difference, but of course this isn’t a fact, just a supposition. Of those that responded to the survey question, only 8% said they would be less likely to hire a candidate due to self-disclosure.
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