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BlueYing · 11-05-2015, 18:47

It's important to note that, as of right now, President Obama is only banning the federal box. That's not to say that steps won't be taken to ban the box altogether. I'm pretty sure that's the direction it's going in, truth be told.

I used to run my own business, too. I wouldn't hire anybody if they were a felon either. However, I know I passed on some people that simply made a mistake. Despite the fact these people were doing their level best to turn their life around, I still did not want to hire them. At that point, I was afraid that if I hired one felon then all the ones who I didn't hire had a discrimination case against me. Then, for anybody who didn't check that box but they should have, if I found out they were in prison then I could let them go for falsifying their application.

I do believe that once anybody's prison sentence is finished then they paid their debt to society. I ran my own business, though. I depended on that money. My family did, too. If I couldn't trust someone, for any reason, felon or not, then they didn't work for me. How could I hire someone when they were put in prison for theft? I'd always be worried they'd steal from me, and therefore my family.

Here's my thing about the whole ban the box thing. Like I said, there are people that are trying to get their life together. But small business owners have more than themselves to think about. Aside from their family, they have the rest of the employees to think about as well. Some small business owners depend on the box to weed people out. A pre screening of felonies on the application will help save some time. Why go through the motions of bringing someone in for an interview if you don't have to? That's time and money. Also, without that box, if the business owner doesn't do background checks on their own, then they'd have to ask the applicant if they've had any felonies in the interview. That can be a pretty awkward question to ask and I'm sure to answer.

For all I know I'm on the wrong side of this. I understand that recidivism can be curbed if these people can find legitimate employment that they can depend on. For me, if I still ran my business, I'd still make the same decisions.

11-05-2015, 18:47	#5
BlueYing Asset Join Date: Nov 2012 Location: Franklin, IN Posts: 29	It's important to note that, as of right now, President Obama is only banning the federal box. That's not to say that steps won't be taken to ban the box altogether. I'm pretty sure that's the direction it's going in, truth be told. I used to run my own business, too. I wouldn't hire anybody if they were a felon either. However, I know I passed on some people that simply made a mistake. Despite the fact these people were doing their level best to turn their life around, I still did not want to hire them. At that point, I was afraid that if I hired one felon then all the ones who I didn't hire had a discrimination case against me. Then, for anybody who didn't check that box but they should have, if I found out they were in prison then I could let them go for falsifying their application. I do believe that once anybody's prison sentence is finished then they paid their debt to society. I ran my own business, though. I depended on that money. My family did, too. If I couldn't trust someone, for any reason, felon or not, then they didn't work for me. How could I hire someone when they were put in prison for theft? I'd always be worried they'd steal from me, and therefore my family. Here's my thing about the whole ban the box thing. Like I said, there are people that are trying to get their life together. But small business owners have more than themselves to think about. Aside from their family, they have the rest of the employees to think about as well. Some small business owners depend on the box to weed people out. A pre screening of felonies on the application will help save some time. Why go through the motions of bringing someone in for an interview if you don't have to? That's time and money. Also, without that box, if the business owner doesn't do background checks on their own, then they'd have to ask the applicant if they've had any felonies in the interview. That can be a pretty awkward question to ask and I'm sure to answer. For all I know I'm on the wrong side of this. I understand that recidivism can be curbed if these people can find legitimate employment that they can depend on. For me, if I still ran my business, I'd still make the same decisions.
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