Earlier this year I took a group of
local organizational leaders on a tour of the factory after which I told them we’ve
openly hired machine operators with colorful criminal backgrounds; some had
lengthy stays in prison while others are or were under probation.
This was a shock to the tour group
because back in their workplaces – and in many throughout America – hiring of
former criminals just isn’t something that’s done. The overzealous use of
background checks for any position under the sun, as well as the dreaded “have
you ever been convicted…” slot on application forms have forced many human
resources managers to look at one-time lawbreakers as having the plague.
Well, let me tell you this: They
don’t “have the plague”. Most of those who spent time in jail or had their
names splashed across the police reports in your local paper are, for the most
part, just like the alleged straight shooters in the world. They want to
overcome their histories. They want to make good on their lives. They want to
raise perfect families. They want to contribute to society. They want to work.
When they are given that chance to
work, they succeed. Ex-cons have been some of my best coworkers. The
determination they possess to become new men, to stay clean and better
themselves (and their families) furnishes an incredible work ethic. They saw
how the other side lives and they don’t want that life anymore. They know the
importance of the straight and narrow and they relish the freedoms and rewards
that the squeaky clean types tend to take for granted. A good life is a great
motivator.
This shouldn’t be an
earth-shattering realization for employers. But, here in New York almost
two-thirds of ex-cons remain unemployed one year after their release because of
the stigma associated with their backgrounds. Employers fail to see that former
criminals come out of their pasts being better people and better workers.
Like our public school systems, our
correctional systems should be looked at as more than just a cost burden, but
also as an investment. That’s the whole point of the legal and penal systems in
a civilized society. Our tax dollars help to educate convicts, teach them
trades, introduce them to self-discipline, and reform their behaviors. It’s a
mammoth undertaking of resources – the US prison system costs taxpayers $228
billion per year while the 2 million Americans discharged from probation
annually had individually cost $4,000 for every year under watch.
It’s an investment that should be
capitalized on, but, it’s obvious that the general consensus is “once a
criminal always a criminal”.
Is that the way a just people should
think? Judging by the outpouring of prayers whenever a natural disaster or act
of terrorism strikes our world, Americans are still a people defined by their
Christianity. The religion is based on redemption and the salvation of sinners
so why shouldn’t those principles be practiced at large, including in
employment? People shouldn’t claim to live up to the standards of their
religion yet absolve themselves of its founding tenets.
Likewise, as another teaching of
Christianity goes -- let he who is without sin cast the first stone. A lot of
convicts and folks in the probation ranks were unlucky enough to get caught
doing what so many other people do. New Yorker’s arcane Rockefeller Laws
imprisoned folks for years for having possessed drugs. How many people under
the age of 70 can claim that they haven’t tried marijuana or don’t know anyone
who has used/uses weed? There are very few for either category and those
smokers were fortunate enough to not get busted for it. Similarly, how many
thousands of customers leave bars and restaurants every day with a little too
much alcohol in their systems and never get caught?
None of that makes what the
ex-criminals did right, but it should show that how they are treated
post-release is wrong. We need to give them chances. We need to give them jobs.
By doing so, we are helping society to make good on its investment in its people
and, in turn, helping to improve our workplaces.
From the 11 April 2016 Greater Niagara Newspapers
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