with a DUI charge, a finance company will not hire people charged with insider One mistake and her whole life was trading or embezzling funds, and changed. One stupid teenage decision retail stores prefer employees with no and his future was in the crosshairs. shoplifting or theft convictions. For some, a criminal record can mean “It depends on the type of role as well financial trouble with court fees and as the type of offense,” said Jeniffer Strub, fines. For others, it can have a lasting the head of human resources at Vyond, impact and cause difficulty when it a Bay Area animation company. “DUIs comes to getting back into the workforce. and those types of things that really have In the United States, just one criminal no bearing on their ability to perform a conviction can alter a person’s life forever. particular role, we don’t consider them, It is much harder for an and we just leave those off.” ex-convict to find a job, especially The difference between a felony high-paying corporate jobs that offer conviction and a misdemeanor is a full living wage. also important. While both felonies For many employers, their willingness and misdemeanors show up on one’s to hire someone convicted of a crime permanent record, misdemeanors are depends on the crime itself. A trucking often overlooked and excused, while company is unlikely to hire someone felonies are seen as very serious crimes
Aidan Lynd
that pose a liability to any employer who hires them. According to a 2004 study by Devah Pager, a Northwestern University sociologist, men who reported a felony conviction in job interviews were 50 percent less likely to receive a callback or additional interview across various companies and positions. Especially in the midst of a national labor shortage due to the COVID-19 pandemic, there are far more severe implications of difficulty for those with criminal records re-entering the workforce. “Now such a large fraction of the population is affected that it has really significant implications, not just for those people, but for the labor market as a whole,” Pager said.
HOW CONVICTION C HANGES A LIFE
44 HIGHLANDER FEATURES
