I am curious if people think they would ever hire someone who has been convicted of a felony.
Suppose that it does not violate whatever laws apply where you live to consider a prior felony unrelated to your business in a person’s job application. In the case where a felony is not related to your business (so, not something related to fraud or stealing), would you consider hiring a person who admits to having committed a felony? Or would it be an automatic “no”?
Would it make a difference if the felony was violent? What factors might make a difference?
(Please consider this as most real-world as possible: I’m talking about the case where the law violated was something you consider a legitimate crime- not sodomy in 1985 under Texas law or selling too much medicinal marijuana. Also, the person actually DID the crime- not that they accidentally battered someone while rescuing a baby from a well and were then prosecuted).
Sure I would. I’ve known lots of felons for various reasons, and some of them I would hire in a second. What happened 20 years ago is not necessarily indicative of what you are like now.
It depends. What was the crime? What’s the job? How long ago was the crime, and what has the felon been doing with his life in the meantime?
Everyone has to make a living, and I’m all for giving second chances. But while I might be willing to give a newly paroled embezzler SOME kind of a job, I wouldn’t hire him for a position where he could get his hands on company money. Similarly, it would be insane to give a rapist or child molestor a job in which he’d get to interact with potential future victims.
Yes in that, given my druthers, I would be willing to give a felon another chance if I were convinced that his character was currently good.
No in that the company I work for forbids it, so even though I am in a hiring position, my hands are tied. I can’t hire people who’ve been convicted of certain misdemeanors, either, such as patronizing prostitution.
Depends on the job, of course. I wouldn’t have qualms about hiring an embezzler as a janitor at the Y, for example. Even something dreadful like a non-violent molester could answer phones overnight at a funeral home (properly situated, of course.).
Most likely I wouldn’t hire a violent felon (never say never). And I don’t consider most drug-related offenses a Crime.
But in this economy, there are a lot of good employees out of work. Why would I take a chance?
Yes, I would *consider *hiring a felon. I would not guarantee I would actually make such a hire.
I’d say the biggest factor is twofold: length of time since the crime was committed, and conduct since that time.
Someone fresh out of jail is a different matter than someone who’s been out in the world for 20+ years and has stayed employed and out of trouble during those two decades. It wouldn’t be an automatic “no” for the guy just out of jail, but it would be a lot harder to convince me to hire such a person than an ex-felon who has demonstrated 20 years of good, law-abiding behavior since release.
I’m curious- would you not put them in private residences because you think there’s a greater chance for them to commit another crime, or because of the risk to your business?
Thanks for the responses- very interesting. Another thing to think about: Many felons, especially for non-violent, first-offenders may not serve any prison time. Would that make a difference to anyone?
Although I’ve never hired anyone myself, my mom once hired a recently released felon* to do work on her house. He was terrific. He left prison with a sincere desire to get on with all the things he’d missed by spending his early adulthood in the pen. Within a few years he’d opened his own business (partly due to the difficulty of getting hired anywhere) and gotten married.
I’ve also worked with released felons in other jobs. Never had any problems.
It’s entirely case-by-case. It would depend on the job, the circumstances, and the person involved. But being a felon would not be an automatic disqualification for me.
Although having known and talked to a few ex-cons gave me a sincere conviction that our prison system is totally screwed. Someday we really ought to give an honest effort to rehabilitate those who are interested.
*Armed robbery, so we’re talking serious crime here.
I know several people who were convicted of felonies in their youth, mostly for stuff like drug dealing. One guy I know went to prison for manufacturing a drug. Most of them now (15-20 years later) are perfectly normal people, with degrees, good jobs (at least on PhD), families and all that.
People do shit that they regret. People can change. I’d probably be a bit wary of violent crime, but other than that, I think it’s not a big deal. Especially if you can look at their current life and clearly see that whatever the felony was for is probably not going to happen again (that is… most people in their mid-40s with a house, a family, and a good job are very unlikely to start dealing coke again.)
Q1: Mostly for my business reputation and customer peace of mind. I’ve actually had to call the cops on ex-cons on commercial job sites for breaking bad (violence, drugs, weapons) again.
Now that I think about it, it’s probably not likely to come up any more for my business. I’m mostly specializing in high end residential remodel now. No way I can afford the hit to my reputation or customer worries. I’m even careful about having any rough looking or salty talking people with me now.
Q2: I don’t recall ever even knowing of that type of situation. On a basic regular job application, I think the Q on there is about conviction, whether they did time or not. In my previous hiring, they pretty much disclosed any time spent, probably because there is a noticeable gap in work refs. Background checks were done only if we had a head’s up about someone.
Last time I hired an ex-con was pre 9/11. The chain gang I used was about 1995. Wow, time flies!
No. My Taekwondo association requires us to undergo periodic background checks to keep our instructor certification. They will not certify anyone with a felony background or one that contains drug convictions of any kind.
Back when I was a contractor, we needed to move pretty often. I somehow met a guy who’d spent time in prison for a drug violation. He was trying to start a fledgling moving business (no one would hire him). He moved us several times. I remember the first time he moved us… As the truck disappeared over the hill, my wife and started laughing. Because if it didn’t “work out”, we’d be explaining why we gave all our worldly possessions to an ex-con and let him drive away with them.
Part of me understands exactly where you are coming from. And the other part of me says “But how do you expect the guy fresh out of prison to get himself solidly established as a law abiding citizen if no one will hire him because he’s got no record of post-prison good behavior?”
As I said, it wouldn’t be an automatic no, it’s more that there are fewer positions I’d consider him for. Janitor? Sure. Cashier? Probably not. Whereas the reformed and well behaved for 20 years ex-felon I’d consider for the cashier job.
Yeah, it’s a rough road to climb back into society’s good graces. On the other hand, my viewpoint is a damn sight kinder than the one that will never consider such a person for employment no matter how much time has past and no matter how law-abiding the ex-felon now is.
And, like others here, what the conviction was for might matter. I’d probably hire Martha Stewart in a heart beat (well, not as a stock trader) straight out of jail. They guy who got sent away for armed robbery I might have to think about a bit more.
I can’t hire people who’ve been convicted of certain misdemeanors, either, such as patronizing prostitution.
