Apple Made the Right Call on Fair-Hiring Practices. Uncle Sam Should Follow Its Lead.
Last week, faster than you can say, 鈥淵our software needs to be updated to iOS 8.3,鈥� Apple its of barring people with felony records from working construction on its new Cupertino campus, and then it after an outpouring of public criticism.
Apple made the right call. As a multinational corporation, its support for fair-chance hiring carries huge symbolic value, as well as positively affecting the lives of real people who have done their time and seek to rebuild their lives as productive neighbors, fathers and mothers, and sons and daughters. And in big business, Apple is not alone. Target, Walmart, Home Depot, and Bed, Bath & Beyond have removed the question about convictions from their initial job applications. Meanwhile, according to the National Employment Law Project (NELP), 15 states and more than 100 cities and counties, plus the District of Columbia, have adopted fair-chance hiring policies.
It鈥檚 long past time for the federal government to step up.
The 老澳门开奖结果 has joined the call of NELP, All of Us or None, the PICO National Network, and almost 200 other organizations and individuals to President Obama to issue directing federal agencies and federal contractors to adopt fair-hiring practices. The federal government employs , and of U.S. workers are employed by federal and federally funded contractors or subcontractors. Adoption of fair-chance hiring throughout the federal workforce would not only demonstrate powerful leadership; it would also impact millions of people.
To be clear, fair-chance hiring policies don鈥檛 guarantee jobs for people with criminal records. They simply help ensure that those individuals are considered for employment on their merits, typically by postponing a criminal background check till later in the hiring process and incorporating (EEOC) that require employers to consider whether a particular criminal conviction is 鈥渏ob related and consistent with business necessity.鈥� The EEOC has stated that 鈥� not surprising given that the U.S. criminal justice system disproportionately impacts African-Americans and Latinos.
In his creator of 鈥淭he Wire,鈥� President Obama acknowledged that individuals with felony histories are often prevented from entering the job market. He called it 鈥渃ounter-productive.鈥�
Yes, Mr. President 鈥� it is counter-productive.
And you can help make it right. Make the federal government a model for the rest of the nation by requiring federal agencies and contractors to give people with criminal records a second chance.
