Why American companies are increasingly inviting people to work with a criminal record

Employers in the US and the UK are softening their requirements for new employees and have begun to more actively recruit people who have recently been released from prison. BBC Russia explained why.

Фото: Depositphotos

Do you think that a person should always be given another chance in life? Many US employers believe that yes: in a recent nationwide survey, about half of the managers and personnel departments expressed a desire to hire people with a criminal record.

But perhaps most surprising is that two-thirds of the HR professionals surveyed and more than 80% of executives said they have observed those with criminal records to perform as well as, if not better, than people who have never had a criminal record. problems with the law.

And this is very important, because in many countries the convicts now constitute a fairly large proportion of the population, and giving them work is considered one of the best ways to prevent them from returning to jail.

Historically, people in prison have always found it difficult to find a job. Statistics of the UK government, published at the beginning of this year, says that only 17% of such people found a permanent job for themselves in the very first year after they had spent their time.

For example, John from Edinburgh. After he went to prison several times, it was very difficult for him to find a job.

But when he ended up behind bars for the last time (2016 was his deadline in February), the charitable organization LifeLine became interested in John (now called Change, Grow, Live), and his life began to change.

For example, to win an addiction to alcohol, he worked with a cognitive-behavioral therapy specialist, and this helped him so much that now John himself wants to help others.

“I wanted to become a social worker, and I volunteered for two years,” he says.

However, according to John, he does not manage to run away from his past: whenever he tries to get a job, documents concerning his past problems are sent to potential employers.

John says he hasn't been drinking 900 days already.

“I have achieved a lot lately - and it would probably be fair if I were given at least a tiny chance to change my life. But they don’t give it to me.”

Many employers are afraid to hire people with a criminal record. A 2006 survey of companies in the north-west of England found that around 90% of them were concerned that being in prison could pose a risk to both staff and customers, and 60% believed that people with a criminal record in the state - this is bad advertising for their company.

Jonathan Spencer, director of the Criminal Justice Research Unit at the University of Manchester, led this survey.

According to him, the participants who committed crimes on sexual grounds are of particular concern to the participants:

“They believe that if such a person commits a similar crime again, it will be a blow to the company’s reputation.”

On the other hand, Spencer and colleagues found that those employers who recruit people with a criminal record basically reported positive experiences.

However, he says, it is difficult to convince those leaders who never hired former violators of the law.

In general, there is no developed unified policy on this issue. For example, in 2013, the British company Virgin Trains began hiring people with criminal records after its founder Richard Branson called for it.

"I don't think we have a specific business plan for this or expect anything different from this initiative," says Damien Henderson, Virgin Trains Scotland spokesman. “We just decided to give it a try.”

The experiment was successful. Now at Virgin Trains, 30 has a criminal record, and the company regularly recruits new employees at job fairs in prisons, where those who want to get a job can tell about themselves and demonstrate their desire to join the team.

"I don't want to try to give the impression that everything is going great," Henderson says.

Virgin Trains had to part with some of these employees, mainly due to problems with work discipline and punctuality.

“But we have not had a single case of such a person breaking the law again,” Henderson emphasizes.

Moreover, many of the workers with a criminal record even advanced through the ranks.

“There are just wonderful people among them,” he says.

The Virgin Trains experience is quite consistent with what a US study showed. Some employers there believe that, with equal preparation, a person with a criminal record may work better than his colleague without one. There are real examples of this.

As a rule, the American army does not recruit people who have had problems with the law. But in some cases in the past, when it was not possible to recruit the necessary number of troops, an exception was made.

The study, which was published at the beginning of the year, Jennifer Landquist, professor of sociology at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, and her colleagues used data obtained from a request based on the Freedom of Information Act to look at how convicted soldiers look against their colleagues.

It turned out that recruits, once convicted of a serious criminal offense, were more likely to move from rank to rank than their co-workers who had never had problems with the law.

For example, former criminals were 32% more likely to achieve the rank of sergeant - and the assignment of this rank is based almost exclusively on a person’s professional qualities and merits.

Landquist says that, starting the study, the scientists expected that never convicted soldiers, and those with a previous conviction, will show approximately equal results.

“However, we were surprised to find that people who were once in trouble with the law actually achieved more in their careers,” she says.

One of the generally accepted explanations of this phenomenon is this: such people simply have no other possibilities, that is why they try so hard.

“If you only have one employer interested in you, you feel grateful and want to repay them with loyalty,” Lundquist explains.

Indeed, several studies confirm that in many cases people with a previous conviction who have been hired remain on it longer than their colleagues without previous convictions.

Lundquist also draws attention to the fact that in the American army they approach the selection of candidates very carefully, and in the case of those with a criminal record, their qualities and background are checked thoroughly. As a result, the best of the best get into the army - both in terms of personal and professional qualities.

As Landquist and her colleagues emphasize, many employers cut off candidates with a criminal record at a very early stage, only after seeing a reference to past problems with the law. Thus, they miss the chance to find excellent workers who are found among those who stayed in prison.

Henderson from Virgin Trains agrees. The company supported the release of Scotland, launched this year and aimed at encouraging more companies to hire people with a criminal record.

“The goal is to use real-life successful examples to show what excellent workers can be found among those who were once convicted,” says Henderson.

There are other initiatives with the help of which they are trying to help people with a previous conviction to overcome the rejection of employers.

The most famous is “Disable tick”. She was born in the USA and urges employers to stop asking job applicants about their criminal records.

Now, by checking a box in the questionnaire when answering the question “Have you had a criminal record?”, a person practically puts an end to further consideration of his candidacy.

The idea is to give such people a chance to go through the entire selection process so that the employer can see the real person with his merits and skills. And after that, having learned about the candidate's past, decide whether he needs a company or not.

These initiatives clearly lack a comprehensive approach by the American army to consider candidates that would help identify all the strengths of candidates and the degree of their desire to work. Such a format could gain the confidence of employers.

“We need to bring in the best people and develop some templates,” Lundquist says.

“Everyone is used to talking about the risks associated with hiring people with criminal records,” Henderson reflects. “But besides the risk, there are also benefits.”

Do employers change the issue of research with examples of the benefits of hiring people who have problems with the law?

“I would like to see more studies like this before I agree with this,” Lundquist says cautiously.

But the fact is that there are also economic reasons for American and British employers to adjust their position in relation to convicted citizens, stresses Vikrant Reddy, senior researcher at the Charles Koch Research Institute (USA).

Unemployment rates in both of these countries are very low and employers have to work hard to find suitable candidates. So it would be very pragmatic for them to start offering jobs to recent prisoners.

“It’s impossible to say for sure, but I think it’s a pretty good reason,” Reddy says. “Employers need talent right now, and people with criminal records are a wonderful pool of those seeking employment.”

Read also on ForumDaily:

19 foreigners face jail for voting in US elections

Four new prisons will be built in New York

The guy was jailed for asking for money from his parents

In the US, looking for more humane ways of the death penalty: what options are possible

Do you want more important and interesting news about life in the USA and immigration to America? — support us donate! Also subscribe to our page Facebook. Select the “Priority in display” option and read us first. Also, don't forget to subscribe to our РєР ° РЅР ° Р »РІ Telegram  and Instagram- there is a lot of interesting things there. And join thousands of readers ForumDaily New York — there you will find a lot of interesting and positive information about life in the metropolis.