Would You Hire An Ex-Con?

Many of my seminars are to people in the building trades, and the question often comes up as to whether or not to consider people for employment who have a criminal past. You need to know if it was an arrest versus a conviction, and if it was a felony versus a misdemeanor. Remember that not all criminal punishments are created equal, and different laws in different cities and states carry more weight. You need to know what the exact circumstances were before you even consider hiring them. You’ll want to know if there was any violence or weapons involved. Second, you will want to know how the crime relates to the specific job they are applying for. If they are driving a vehicle or operating equipment, was the conviction for drunk driving? If they are handling money, was the conviction for theft, forgery, or embezzlement? Finally, you need to know how recent the conviction was, and what time was served, if any. If a person was convicted 17 years ago and has a clean record since, I would weigh that in my decision. People do change (but not always), and I have been given many examples from audience members on how ex-convicts turned out to be their best employees because they were given a second chance. A careful reference and thorough background check should be done before hiring.