Meeting Employer and Job Seeker Needs: Criminal Record Policies that Work
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Featured topics:
Anti-Discrimination Laws: Regulatory Enforcement and Policies at the NYC, NYS and Federal Levels
Employer Policies: Good Moral Character Requirement and Negligent Hiring
Education and Advocacy Strategies: Creating a Demand
When a young Phoenix man named Gabriel left prison after a four-year term for burglary, he was 21 -- the same age at which his uncle, P. David Lopez, graduated college and saw before him limitless opportunities.
But unlike that college grad, Gabriel "faced a world where his options, in many ways, were limited," Mr. Lopez said, "by stereotypes, by prejudice, by the law."
Mr. Lopez, the keynote speaker at the National H.I.R.E. Network’s Sixth Annual NYS Reentry Policy Conference, went on to become general counsel at the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. His nephew’s story mirrors the struggles happening all over the country, he said, and inspires him to keep fighting against discrimination in hiring.
The first field staff attorney in EEOC’s history to be appointed general counsel, Mr. Lopez shared the agency’s philosophy with the audience at NYU School of Law’s Tishman Auditorium, saying he was proud "to protect the quintessentially American right of equal opportunity."
Sharing from the audience provided a window into the real-life stories behind that work. Leslie Campbell, who left prison in 2000, told of applying for a position with Metropolitan Transportation Authority only to be told, "Are you crazy? Do you think we would put you as a conductor?"
"My heart dropped to the floor," Ms. Campbell said. She went to the Legal Action Center for help, she said, though in the end, she didn’t get the job.
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P. David Lopez, general counsel
at the EEOC, delivered the
keynote address at the Sixth
Annual NYS Reentry Policy
Conference on Sept. 26, 2011.
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Rudy Pyatt, deputy general counsel at the New York City Commission on Human Rights, said Ms. Campbell’s case sounded like something his agency would look into. Any company has a right to consider a criminal record, he said, but "if it’s a sham process, if it something that appears to be a pretense" to cover up discrimination, the city would investigate.
Representing employers, Fernan R. Cepero, vice president of Human Resources at the YMCA of Greater Rochester, told of advocating to find out the story behind the criminal record before ruling someone out for a job. Mr. Cepero, also director of the New York State Society for Human Resource Management, said employers would do well to seek out programs that provide incentives for such hiring. "It actually broadens your applicant pool, which is a good thing to have," he said.
Indeed, buy-in from employers is key, as HIRE director Roberta Meyers-Peeples said in her opening remarks.
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HIRE director Roberta Meyers-Peeples, second from right, with the members of the
panel "Anti-Discrimination: A Human and Civil Right": Sally Friedman, LAC's legal
director, left; Electra Yourke, enforcement manager at the EEOC; and Rudy Pyatt,
deputy general counsel at the New York City Commission on Human Rights.
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"Wouldn’t it be better if we work to get employers to invite us to their table? You get treated better when you are the guest," she said.
"So today, I want us to think about how we can educate and motivate employers to think differently about job seekers with criminal records and change attitudes and behaviors in the labor market."
In one of the more surprising audience-sharing moments, Tammy Henry, of Wal-Mart’s Analytical Research Center on Global Security, said her company was doing just that.
A big challenge, Ms. Henry said, is getting people to understand how to analyze criminal record information -- and teaching applicants how to convey the information they are asked to disclose. But working together is the first step, Ms. Henry said, adding, "I’m inviting you to our table."
Other audience questions raised the issue of how long old criminal records could be considered relevant in a hiring decision.
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Because there are no specific laws on the matter, "It’s really important for everyone who has a criminal record to have a packet of evidence of rehabilitation, and to revisit that once a year," said Sally Friedman, LAC’s legal director. "Sadly, this is something that you can never erase. They’re there, it’s a burden forever."
Still, Mr. Lopez, of the EEOC, said he tried to "celebrate the small successes" of this difficult work. "The time is always right to do right," he said, quoting Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Then, applauding the HIRE Network’s 10 years of advocacy, he said, "Dr. King recognized the work of everyday people. That is what I see in this room, and that is what I think we should honor."
LAC and the National H.I.R.E. Network extend our sincere thanks to the NYS Division of Criminal Justice Services and JobsFirst NYC for their sponsorship of this event.
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