SelectLeaders Customer Service received an email looking for companies that would hire a “convicted felon” who had served his sentence for a white collar crime. Think about how many apartment leases ask, “Have you ever been convicted of a felony?” Background checks find this information easily with today’s technology. So if one is convicted of a felony, they in reality get a life sentence. A few months back Koch Industries, under CEO Charles Koch a libertarian and Republican supporter, removed questions about prior criminal convictions from their job applications, becoming the latest corporation to join a burgeoning movement trying to make it easier for ex-offenders to find work. 16 states have adopted “fair chance” hiring policies and in 6 states the measures also apply to private companies. However the depth of information in many background checks assumes that the company will ignore such information. For some companies, it depends on the job.
September 16, 2015