The City Council voted 8-1 on Tuesday night in favor of the policy to “ban the box” and not require city job applicants to check a box on whether they have a criminal past.
Chip Henderson was in opposition.
Proponents said an individual with a criminal history has a harder time finding employment than an individual with a clean record. Contributing to this difficulty is the box on the initial job application asking whether or not the applicant has ever been convicted of a crime, it was stated.
Initially brought forth by the NAACP, “ban the box” works to remove the question on city job applications asking if an individual has been convicted of a felony. The policy has been worked on locally for about two years, the hope being that by removing the criminal history question, an applicant will not be disqualified upfront from a potential job opening, Councilman Chris Anderson stated.
“The vast majority of employees who check that box do automatically disqualify,” he said.
Rather, “ban the box” promotes one’s job qualifications as the primary factor in moving, or not moving, that applicant on to the next realm of the hiring process, he stated.
The way it works is that once an application has been submitted and the applicant has been given a conditional offer for the position, the employer may then inquire about the applicant’s criminal history through a routine background check.
The city of Chattanooga is one of the largest employers in the city. With this in mind, Councilman Yusuf Hakeem discussed how “ban the box” helps reintegrate a number of citizens coming back to Chattanooga after their incarceration time. He said those with criminal backgrounds find housing and employment to be very difficult to come by.
“We say we want these persons to be law abiding, but if we close the door on them on these two items, it’s very likely they may get back into that illegal activity that got them in trouble in the first place.”
Councilman Russell Gilbert noted that people who do something wrong at age 18 or 19 should not be punished for the rest of their lives. “This is an opportunity…because if you check that box it automatically kicks you out in most businesses.”
According to Councilman Anderson, the resolution only affects city of Chattanooga employers. It does not do away with background checks for prospective city employees, and it does not affect the ability for private employers to inquire about criminal history on job applications.
One hundred cities in 19 states nationwide have adopted “ban the box.”
The policy will go into effect for the city of Chattanooga by Jan. 1, 2016.