EEOC Updates Criminal Background Check Policies: Good News for Unemployed

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Public Policy and External Relations April 26, 2012 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ EEOC Votes in Strong Bi-Partisan Fashion to Update Criminal Background Check Policies, Clarifying Civil Rights Standards for Illinois Employers & Workers   [Chicago, Illinois]  With more Americans affected by employer use of criminal background checks than ever before, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) voted this week to update its decades-old guidance on how employers may use criminal background checks in their hiring decisions. The old EEOC guidance dates back to 1987, when current Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas chaired the EEOC.     The updated guidance provides employers with greater clarity on the fair use of background checks, in order to help the vast majority of employers who want to do the right thing, but who are often unaware of federal civil rights laws. The guidance will also go a long way to educate workers, especially workers of color, who face tremendous challenges in navigating the expanded use of criminal background checks for employment in today's competitive job market.     "We applaud the action of the EEOC in taking on this issue of critical concern to today's employers and workers. This is a major civil rights issue that affects thousands of people with criminal records in Chicago and throughout Illinois," said Diane Williams, President and CEO of Safer Foundation. "A major goal of our organization is to advance criminal justice reforms that guarantee equality for all under the law, so that our clients can become responsible, employed members of their communities. With the help of the new guidelines, we look forward to working with both employers and workers across the state to do the hard work of making sure that background checks are fair, accurate, and truly protect safety and security on the job.   In the 25 years since the EEOC issued its initial guidance, the use of background checks by employers has exploded in popularity. Today, more than 90 percent of employers conduct criminal background checks on some or all job applicants (up from 51 percent in 1996), according to a 2010 Society of Human Resources Management survey.   The ramped-up use of background checks today adds a major hurdle to the job prospects of a vast segment of U.S. workers. An estimated 65 million people in the United States-or one in four adults-have an arrest or conviction record that can show up on a routine criminal background check for employment. The problem is especially severe for African Americans and Latinos, who are overrepresented in the criminal justice system and are hit hard by higher rates of unemployment.   Unfortunately, some employers still violate the federal civil rights laws by imposing blanket restrictions against hiring people with criminal records. Just this year, Pepsi agreed to a $3.13 million settlement after denying jobs to anyone with an arrest-even if the arrest never led to conviction or was minor and not job-related. A 2011 report by the National Employment Law Project documented these kinds of violations based on an analysis of job ads posted on Craigslist by small and large employers across the United States.   In the wake of the updated EEOC guidance, groups in Illinois and around the country will be stepping up their efforts to educate employers, as well as workers, on the fair use of criminal background checks.   Demand for the revised guidance was strong. Following a 2011 hearing on the issue, the EEOC received more than 300 public comments, which-by a two-to-one ratio-supported the need for updating the guidelines, to better reflect changes in the economy, workplace, and world of criminal records screening since issuance of the initial guidance 25 years ago. For more details on the EEOC's new guidance, the National Employment Law Project will be sponsoring a telephonic press briefing on Thursday, April 26th, at 11:30 a.m. ET. To participate, please contact Tim Bradley of BerlinRosen at tim@berlinrosen.com or 314-440-9936.   # # #   Follow Us on Twitter! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Follow @SaferFoundation on Twitter for more updates on criminal justice news and more information about the organization. We appreciate your support!  Public Policy and External Relations Contacts ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ B. Diane Williams, President / CEO Veronica Cunningham, Vice President, Public Policy and External Relations Jon Kaplan, Director, Marketing and Communication Anthony Lowery, Director, Policy and Advocacy phone: 312-922-2200 www.saferfoundation.org ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ * Many articles refer to people with criminal records as "ex-offenders" or "offenders". While we appreciate all the positive press these issues receive, we are working to use other terms to describe our clients that do not carry such negative connotations. These terms include "people with criminal records" or "people reentering society".

Safer Foundation | 571 W. Jackson Blvd. | Chicago | IL | 60661