Help wanted — sixty-five million need not apply

[marmar]

Wed Mar 23, 1:17 pm ET

Help wanted — sixty-five million need not apply
By Zachary Roth


In 2008, Johnny Magee, who is developmentally disabled, was laid off from his landscaping job in Livermore, California, thanks to government budget cuts. He applied for a new position as a garden center attendant at a nearby Lowe's Home Improvement store. Despite his prior experience, Magee wasn't hired. Why? A background check had turned up a 1999 misdemeanor conviction, stemming from an incident in which he unknowingly picked up a package for his uncle that contained drugs. Later that year, Magee's conviction was dismissed—but that was too late for him to get the job at Lowe's.

Sixty-five million Americans—or one in four adults—have a criminal record. But employers—including major companies like Bank of America, Omni Hotel, and Domino's Pizza—routinely post job ads on Craigslist that explicitly exclude such applicants, according to a new report conducted by the National Employment Law Center (NELP), a labor-affiliated advocacy group.

The practice appears in some cases to be against the law, and at a time of record long-term joblessness, advocates for the poor say it places yet another obstacle in front of people like Magee, who are working to get their life back on track. In addition, there's widespread agreement that helping those with criminal records to find stable employment is crucial for preventing recidivism and preventing future crime. Indeed, that's the reason that the government runs programs designed to make it easier for ex-offenders to find work.

Perhaps most important, effectively making more than one quarter of the American workforce unemployable may be an unsustainable policy for the economy as whole. ..............(more)

The complete piece is at: http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_thelookout/20110323/ts_yblog_thelookout/help-wanted-sixty-five-million-need-not-apply

[provis99]

1. Bush has a criminal record: a DUI.

Does anyone believe Lowe's would be consistent and not hire Bush for any position, because of his criminal record?

[Wilms]

2. Lowe's would never hire Bush. SCOTUS, however, was more forgiving. n/t

[ClarkUSA]

3. Magee needs to get his misdemeanor expunged.

[cui bono]

4. I've also been hearing of credit checks on job applicants.

What does that have to do with anything?

[Newest Reality]

5. I'd swear their is a covert and

concerted effort to create a large, permanent Underclass in this country: Untouchables. A caste.

Yes, I know we have always had a statistic like that and most people have remained ignorant of it or turned their backs on it, but now its coming for a larger portion of us, and because of that, get more attention.

I'm living as a member of the Underclass, but not for a conviction record, yet I can relate very closely to those who suffer as rejected, disenfranchised citizens of such a ridiculously wealthy, (would make a King of old drool) country. A country with so much available that it most certainly a Mecca for the rich and well-to-do, never before known in history. There is just so much luxurious stuff and all their whims and needs are catered to, down to the finest detail.

If this keeps up, it will be a form of culling because we will be dying off very quickly for failure to thrive due to poor diet, lack of necessities and limited, if any, access to health care. Try getting a bad tooth pulled when you have no money.

[supernova]

6. My fiance is an example of this

He was arrested in 1999 for a charge that was very different from his line of work. This incident scared him straight and he's been a model citizen since then. Still it's on his record.

Last year he got a job as a contractor for the federal governemnt. It's a line of work he loves and is exceedingly good at. He was completely honest with all the hiring parties and his manager about his past. They assured him that it would be no problem. There was a background check, but it only goes back seven years, he was told. What could he do but believe them?

Well, sadly he was laid off a couple of weeks ago. The background check negated him. He's so anxious about it all, he takes tranquilizers. It has hit his return to wholeness hard. He is trying to find another job, hopefully one where a background check isn't so much of an issue. I'm not working right now either, and we've had to put the wedding off for now.

If we say we want to have people return to society, then we have to give them the opportunity to.

[undeterred]

7. I know of someone who was arrested for shoplifting when she was 18..

She is now 42. It really seems crappy that this should keep her in a low paying crummy job for the rest of her life.

[lbrtbell]

8. This is bullshit!

It's one thing to make sure you're not hiring a sex offender, especially in jobs connected with children, but this is outrageous.

So are the credit checks. After all, how are you going to improve your credit, if you can't get a job to pay your bills?

[n2doc]

9. Until we generate jobs in this country they will get away with this

Only when employers have to compete for workers, then will crap like this be stopped. Otherwise what you have are a lot of people looking for work or potentially looking for work who say "Yeah, good- more job opportunities for me!" We all know the type. The T-baggin' type.