Target To Drop Criminal Background Questions In Job Applications

[my2sense]

Source: Huffington Post

Target plans to stop asking prospective employees about their criminal records in initial job applications at all of its U.S. stores, a company spokesperson confirmed to The Huffington Post on Tuesday.

The Minneapolis-based company had been facing pressure to do so from grassroots advocacy group TakeAction Minnesota. Target nevertheless reserved the right to ask about criminal backgrounds after the completion of an applicant's first interview.

“Target is an industry leader in developing a nuanced criminal background check process that gives qualified applicants with a criminal history a second chance while maintaining the safety of our guests, team members and protecting our property,” Target spokeswoman Molly Snyder wrote in an emailed statement.

The announcement from the country's second-largest retailer comes just months after Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton signed “Ban the Box” legislation, which will next year make it illegal for the state's employers to ask about a job applicant's criminal history until he or she has been selected for an interview.

-More at link-

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/10/29/target-criminal-history-questions_n_4175407.html

[Le Taz Hot]

1. Excellent!

People who have paid their debt to society deserve an equal chance. Society wants people to be productive members of society, most ex-inmates WANT to be productive members of society but too many doors or closed to them and then we wonder why the recidivism rate is so high.

[Loki]

2. Yes, long overdue.

I hope that other businesses will follow suit and help bring these people into the work force. They need jobs too.

[jsr]

3. Good.

[treestar]

4. Good

There is no value in continually punishing people with exclusion after they are out of jail. If they get a job, things will improve. If they don't, it's just asking for recidivism.