Blog Post: Look into hiring ex-offenders to fill gap left by employer sanction law

With the new employer sanction law now, in effect it has come to my attention that many employers are looking to fill the void produced by non-documented workers leaving the local workforce. Some employers have reported to me as many as 160 terminations because of the new law.

Under the Legal Arizona Workers Act, employers with unauthorized workers could have their business licenses suspended for up to 10 days and be put on probation. A second offense could lead to a revocation of the license.

It will be necessary for many employers to find a new labor force.

 I would like to suggest hiring ex-offenders to replace many of the lost employees. The ex-offender comes with tax incentives such as the Work Opportunity Tax Credit. This is a $2400.00 tax credit that employers can take for hiring ex-offenders. If you want information of this and other, incentives for hiring ex-offenders please go to www.azcrc.com .

I have been working with employers that hire ex-offenders for years. Many of these employers have found that the ex-offender is a good employment decision. In many cases, employers find that hiring persons on parole or probation insures that at the very least they are being monitored by a third party (parole or probation officer). The parolee has every incentive to be a great employee. I have had employers state that employees that are on probation or parole are some of their best hires. There is a general lack of empirical evidence linking ex-offenders to workplace crime.  

Looking into your company policy in regards to hiring ex-offenders may be a good first step. 

Federal law discourages employers from having a blanket policy of denying employment to individuals with criminal histories. Guidance from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission requires employers to make individualized assessments about the appropriateness of hiring a particular applicant (Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Notice No. N-915, Policy Statement on Issue of Conviction Records under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, [February 4, 1987]). Employers must give full consideration to certain factors including:

The nature and gravity of the offense(s);

The time that has passed since the conviction and/or completion of the sentence; and

The nature of the job held or sought.

These guidelines do not require that an employer must hire an ex-offender. It suggests that employers use good judgment in creating a policy that is fair and reasonable in assessing the ex-offender for employment.

All employers should also practice due diligence in hiring ex-offenders.  Negligent hiring is generally found where the employee who actually caused the injury had a reputation record that showed his propensity to misuse the kind of authority given by the employer, and this record would have been easily discoverable by that employer, had a diligent search been conducted. For example, a victim of sexual harassment in the workplace may have a cause of action for negligent hiring on the part of her employer if she can show that the employer was aware of the harasser's termination from a previous position for the same behavior. However, if that position is not directly connected to the crime it is reasonable to hire. For example if an ex-offender has a conviction for fraud it is not advisable to hire that person to work in the finance department but it would be reasonable to hire that person to do grounds keeping.

Employers are more likely to hire an ex-offender if they feel that a reputable agency is involved with that person and advocates on their behalf. According to the Urban Institute Reentry Roundtable Article on Understanding the Nexus between Prisoner Reentry and Work of May 2003. The article goes on to state that  survey suggested that employers might be more open to working with ex-offenders if the ex-offender is involved in services from “intermediary agencies”. See my blog on this subject January 6 th .

In short, it will be good for your company to examine your ex-offender hiring policy. There are a lot of great and highly skilled person with a criminal background history. Utilizing this valuable resource is good for business and the community by reducing crime and recidivism.

If you want to find out more, please contact me at stemple@teamsaz.org or go to my website at www.teamsaz.org

Steve Temple GCDF