Hiring an employee with a felony record is not as easy as it sounds. Most reputed companies refrain from hiring ex-felons. Any firm or company’s primary objective is to appoint responsible employees. That is very significant for the overall success of the company.
Hiring a felon doesn’t ensure a positive output always. That’s why most hiring managers face dilemmas while hiring felons.
Many progressive companies are taking initiatives to hire felons. Multiple reputed and multinational companies are listed among these progressive companies. The US government is also supportive of felons.
A hiring manager always focuses on discipline and peace inside the company. A felon employee tends to interrupt the positive workflow inside an office. Such risks make company authorities skeptical about employing ex-felons.
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What Are The Benefits Of Hiring Ex-Felons?
Despite the risk factors, recruiting felons has some beneficial sides too. A felon has all the legit rights to get a job after his imprisonment sentence. Here, you will know the benefits of recruiting felons.
- Felons don’t get too many job opportunities frequently. But they require stable and consistent income every month for survival. So, they put their best efforts to get jobs to feed themselves. Naturally, ex-felons become sincerer workers than other workers. That’s because they don’t want to lose their jobs at any cost.
- Most felons develop certain skillsets during their imprisonment periods. The government organizes different vocational training sessions and other programs for felons. Those programs help felons sharpen their skills in different fields. Felons often have more potentials to offer than regular employees. In such cases, the recruiter gets benefited from a felon employee’s services.
- A convicted felon always tries to remove the tag of a felony from himself. He emphasizes creating a good impression and reputation to redeem his sin. So, he works in a company with a positive approach. Especially, some felons undergo rehabilitation programs. Such individuals tend to turn into serious and sincere employees.
- Another main reason for hiring ex-felons is receiving handsome tax credits. Many big companies give job opportunities to felons for this reason. The US government’s Work Opportunity Tax Credit Program pays tax credits for felon-hiring. An employer receives two thousand dollars tax credit by appointing an ex-felon. The government hasn’t set a maximum limit of receiving tax credits.
An employer can be facilitated with these advantages for recruiting ex-felons. You contribute to the social services by giving chances to ex-felons as well.
The Recruitment Procedures For Felons
Every company enforces different hiring policies and introduces different hiring procedures. However, a company’s hiring procedure is the same for both felon and non-felon candidates. No separate preventive measures are taken for hiring felons.
The US government’s hiring guidelines strictly prohibit companies from rejecting felons directly. The ‘Ban-the-box’ movement is liable for such a thing.
Previously, many companies used to keep dedicated felony-record boxes in their application forms. Candidates are required to check that box appropriately for a successful application. That process got banned due to the movement mentioned above.
The hiring manager can ask about a felon’s conviction in the personal interview round. A felon can be enquired of his felony after getting shortlisted.
A felon candidate needs to contact a local job consultation agency to know about vacancies. He can also go to a company’s website to apply for his favorite position in the company. He needs to fill the application form and provide the necessary details there. Most companies conduct telephonic interviews with shortlisted candidates. They do so to judge their candidature before further hiring progress.
Once a felon candidate clears all these steps, he needs to go for a personal interview. The company conducts a thorough background check of the candidate. Then the company authority takes the final call about the candidate’s recruitment.
How Should An Employer Approach A Felon’s Hiring?
An employer needs to plan the entire process and execute his plan intently. That’s how he completes a successful felon-recruitment.
The following points are going to help an employer make a complete plan-
- The employer should determine the job responsibilities related to the position. Every position includes some specific responsibilities. Allotting the responsibilities primarily can help find suitable candidates.
- Apart from that, each position requires certain degrees or educational qualifications too. The employer should clarify the required degrees for a specific job vacancy. Otherwise, he receives a lot of useless applications. That makes the hiring process prolonged and delayed.
- The employer should also specify the necessary skills in the job advertisement. That helps candidates find suitable positions for themselves.
- All the details and conditions related to the position should also be clarified. Candidates need to know the company policies before applying for different positions.
These are the integral parts of the planning related to felon hiring. An employer must imply these strategies to select the right candidates.
Why Should An Employer Run Background Check Of A Candidate?
Many criminals don’t confess their felony records in their application forms. Even don’t disclose their crimes in further interview rounds as well. That’s why all companies hire in-house teams for background checks. Employers can know several factors about a candidate’s felony through background checks.
Here are some points that become highlighted in background checks-
1 The background check determines the time gap between the conviction and the application. A felon cannot apply for a job before completing a certain period after imprisonment. That time varies from company to company. Some companies hire candidates with 5-7 years old felonies. On the other side, some companies set extended time gaps for felon applicants.
2 The employer knows about the candidate’s crime type from the background check. This is a critical factor in judging a felon candidate’s job eligibility.
How Do A Criminal’s Records Affect His Chances Of Recruitment?
As an employer, you must analyze a felon candidate’s crime entirely. There are some factors to consider to judge a felon’s candidature-
1 You must analyze the severity of a candidate’s crime at first. Felons associated with brutal crimes like rape, murder shouldn’t get hired. You increase other employees’ life risks by hiring such a felon.
2 You should investigate how the felon’s offense is related to the position. You can’t hire a violent offender as a supervisor. Also, you can’t recruit a fraudulent felon in finance-related positions. This is also a considerable aspect of felon-hiring.
3 An employer must not hire recent felons. You should focus on hiring people who passed a minimum of 5 years post-conviction.
4 You are supposed to emphasize the candidate’s correctional approaches. Most criminals go to rehabilitation centers and therapists to reconstruct their minds. This is a necessary step to get back to normal life. Every company looks into the correctional endeavors of a felon candidate strictly. This also helps the employers understand the felon candidate’s mindset and tendencies.
These factors influence felon-hiring procedures largely. If you’re an employer, you should apply these strategies too.
Conclusion
Hiring a felon is not a bad idea always. As the article states, there are several advantages of felon-hiring too. Be considerate and carry out the guidelines mentioned above to hire the right candidates. Felons deserve another chance in life and organizations can help them get this chance. If all procedures are followed well, a felon can lead a successful life.