When Victor Hugo wrote Les Miserables, he wanted us to side with Jean Valjean. Sadly, many HR departments have taken the role of Javert.
What do I mean by that? Over 90% of employers are using background checks. For people who have criminal convictions, or even just arrests, the result is a scarlet letter that can lead to a lifetime of unemployment. With digital records, there is no escape from a single mistake made decades before.
Background checks certainly have their place. Embezzlers shouldn’t handle money. People who have abused children shouldn’t work in day care. There are plenty of examples.
However, studies repeatedly show that the probability of a criminal re-offending drops the longer they stay out of trouble. For most offenses, their “re-offense risk” drops to that of the general population in seven years or less if they stay clean. Here’s one article with more details on risk.
But for HR, any blemish is grounds to block consideration. Just search for “no felony” in job descriptions on Craig’s List. At ERE, I asked a recruiter from a major retailer about their policy. They said the policy was “no hire” for minor offenses that were less than 20 years old and “never hire” for felonies. This was for jobs in the shipping facility.
Not that any felony is good, but getting caught with a gram of pot at a Dead show hardly seems like the kind of thing that should render someone unemployable for life.
There are plenty of people, especially young men, who get into a bit of trouble when they’re teenagers. Few would argue that part of “paying their debt to society” should be a lifetime of unemployment or decades of a marginal work life.
Back to Les Miserables. Victor Hugo must be spinning in his grave. How have we gotten to the point where Human Resources departments are so unfair and unforgiving that the government enforcer has to step in and fight for social justice?



