How conviction changes a life

AIDAN LyND

One mistake and her whole life was changed. One stupid teenage decision and his future was in the crosshairs.

For some, a criminal record can mean financial trouble with court fees and fines. For others, it can have a lasting impact and cause difficulty when it comes to getting back into the workforce.

In the United States, just one criminal conviction can alter a person’s life forever. It is much harder for an ex-convict to find a job, especially high-paying corporate jobs that offer a full living wage.

For many employers, their willingness to hire someone convicted of a crime depends on the crime itself. A trucking company is unlikely to hire someone with a DUI charge, a finance company will not hire people charged with insider trading or embezzling funds, and retail stores prefer employees with no shoplifting or theft convictions.

“It depends on the type of role as well as the type of offense,” said Jeniffer Strub, the head of human resources at Vyond, a Bay Area animation company. “DUIs and those types of things that really have no bearing on their ability to perform a particular role, we don’t consider them, and we just leave those off.”

The difference between a felony conviction and a misdemeanor is also important. While both felonies and misdemeanors show up on one’s permanent record, misdemeanors are often overlooked and excused, while felonies are seen as very serious crimes 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.

With fewer people in the workforce, the need for ex-convicts working has increased. This has led to a stronger push for “ban the box” laws, which already exist in numerous states, including California. The box in the name refers to a box on many job applications that asks applicants whether they have a criminal history. Under these laws, jobs can conduct criminal background checks only after they have made the applicant a conditional job offer.

“We don’t ask that in the hiring process, but once they’ve accepted an offer, we’ll run a background check. And that does include a criminal record search,” Strub said.

Conditional job offers allowed in “ban the box” laws still allow employers to deny applicants based on criminal history, but only after the applicant has been deemed worthy of the job, which therefore lessens the chances of someone being denied a job due to their record.

In a further effort to incentivize companies to hire convicted felons, Work Opportunity Tax Credits (WOTCs) are offered to employers who hire a convicted felon less than a year after they are released from prison and can give the company up to $2,400 in tax credit. In addition, a study by Business Insider shows that workers with criminal records may be more productive, and the Bureau of Justice Statistics shows no studies linking criminal records to increased crime in the workforce.

The biggest barrier for workers with criminal records re-entering the workforce is the stigma around criminals. When it comes to work ability, people with criminal records are not lacking, yet they still run into trouble getting jobs — a trend that could be costly to the U.S. economy and social stability in the near future.

CLAIRE tSENG