Convicted felon seeking jobs?

John P

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 restricts the state's ability to use criminal convictions in employment decisions (42 USC Â§2000e-5, et seq.). The Equal Employment Opportunities Commission (EEOC), the federal agency that enforces Title VII, has ruled that automatically disqualifying people who have criminal records from jobs is discriminatory because the practice disproportionately affects African American and Hispanic men. (These two groups have much higher criminal conviction rates than do Caucasian men.)

The EEOC has ruled repeatedly that covered employers cannot simply bar felons from jobs, but must show that a conviction-based disqualification is justified by "business necessity." The legal test requires employers to examine (1) the job-relatedness of each conviction, (2) the nature of the crime committed, (3) the number of convictions, (4) the facts surrounding each offense, (5) the length of time between the conviction and the employment decision, (6) the person's employment history before and after the conviction, and (7) the applicant's efforts at rehabilitation. According to the EEOC, the job-relatedness inquiry is the most important, and focuses on whether the job position applied for presents an opportunity for the applicant to engage in the same type of misconduct which resulted in the conviction (Bednar, "Employment Law Dilemmas," 11 Utah Bar J. 15 (Dec. 1998)).

Marie C.

You can easily find work. My husband was convicted of a felony as a young man. He made a very simple, common, stupid mistake as a 22 year old. So....he is a 'felon.'

It has NEVER hurt him. Not once.

First, he went to work for a warehouse. He worked there for about 2 years. After 2 years, he was promoted to warehouse manager. As a warehouse manager, he began looking for work with higher pay. And he loves cooking. So, he got a job in a restaurant working with salads in the kitchen. He was making more money...and happier! Then, while he was working in the restaurant, he worked hard at night and went to cooking school. Two years later, he was a certified/graduated pastry chef for a major restaurant in Dallas. Today (5 years later), he is the head chef. He makes about $90,000.00 a year doing only what he loves.

Don't let anyone tell you that you can't get a good job. Like anyone else, it won't be easy. It isn't really easy for anyone. But work in a field that doesn't require serious background checks and you should be just fine. Put the past behind you and work HARD. Goooooood luck!

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