A couple months ago, a client’s management team asked whether I agreed with their existing practice of automatically excluding from consideration for employment all candidates with criminal records. I advised them that I could not bless such a blanket disqualification, and I counseled them about how to modify their practice going forward.
The client’s inquiry, as well as my answer, were very timely. On April 25, 2012, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission issued its “Enforcement Guidance on the Consideration of Arrest and Conviction Records in Employment Decisions Under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.” This new Guidance consolidates and supersedes the EEOC’s prior policy statements regarding this issue and provides recommendations for employers to consider.
