Reply to Jawando and Ban the Box

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Am trying to understand, for a business that works with kids (after care, Adventure Theatre, Little Gym, even at a Bounce U or Pump it Up), or handles finances (bank, cashier, wealth advisor), and I am sure there are others - those just spring to mind,  I don't want a criminal in any of those positions.  What is the point in wasting my time interviewing someone I will never hire?[/quote]

OP here. First of all, it's already law for businesses with more than 15 employees, so all those businesses already do this.   This amendment expands the criminal conviction question ban to businesses under 15 empoyees.

It is meant to give individuals with a criminal background a fair shot at employment.  And I wouldn't characterize a person as a "criminal" because they've had a prior record.   People, especially those under 25, do stupid things, but that doesn't mean they always continue to do stupid things.  If they've paid their debt to society, they should be judged on the totality of their circumstances, not just checking a box showing they have a criminal record.

However, apparently some employers are just skipping over individuals they think "might" have a criminal record.  Rather than go through the interview process like you state.  And that could end up hurting applicants of color since many white people assume black people have records.

This is not based on data, just my own feeling as a former small business owner, that expanding this bill to include very small businesses will actually be harmful.   I think small businesses are actually more likely to give an applicant a shot at a job despite criminal records.  It's on a more personal level.    Which is why I'd like the Council to put its money where its mouth is and do the racial equity analyses they keep talking about.  But never do.

This bill seems well-intentioned, but without data, seems largely based on emotion.   Show me how this will specifically help applicants of color in Montgomery County.  What has happened to minority employment rates since the original Ban the Box law was passed?   Is that data controlled for fluctuations in the economy?  Are there studies where this law applies to other very-small businesses?  What has happened there?

It's to their advantage to do this type of study, because it may actually alleviate some business owners' concerns about the potential overreach.

[/quote]

There are actually studies on this. There is a study by Peter Blair “Job market signaling through occupational licensing” that shows that black men benefit from licenses that signal non-felony status. This study was done by looking at hiring in states who implemented “ban the box” policies compared with those that did not. In states with ban the box policies employers seemed to assume that black men were felons, and they were disproportionately discriminated against.

I don’t know how MoCo could “do” a study on this, but they could commission a study by a well-respected scholar to study the probable impacts. [/quote]

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