Bosses could be forced to hire more workers with criminal records under new equality guidelines



Employers in the U.S. may soon have to hire more workers with criminal backgrounds under new equality guidelines issued by the federal government.



The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s guidelines warn companies against rejecting minority applicants who have committed a felony or other offense, recommending that those companies eliminate policies which ‘exclude people from employment based on a criminal record.’



According to the EEOC, civil rights laws already prohibit employers from selectively hiring job applicants who are of different ethnic backgrounds but have matching criminal histories.

New guidelines: Employers in the U.S. may soon have to hire more workers with criminal backgrounds under new worker equality guidelines issued by the federal government

The latest update from the EEOC was issued out of concern that employers might disproportionally decline applicants from minorities since a greater number of African Americans and Hispanics are getting arrested for crimes, according to the guideline report.



‘There is no Federal law that clearly prohibits an employer from asking about arrest and conviction records,’ the EEOC’s website states.

‘However, using such records as an absolute measure to prevent an individual from being hired could limit the employment opportunities of some protected groups and thus cannot be used in this way.’

The agency's commissioners approved the report in a 4-1 vote in April 2012.

Warning: The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission's guidelines warn companies against rejecting minority applicants who have committed a felony or other offense

‘The only real impact the new guidance will have will be to scare business owners from ever conducting criminal background checks,’ Commissioner Constance Barker, who cast the one opposing vote, told Fox News.



She added that the EEOC’s major shift in guidance from the past 22 years had ‘far exceeded its authority as a regulatory commission.’



Studies published by the University of Chicago Legal Forum and the Journal of Law and Economics show businesses are much less likely to hire minority applicants when background checks are banned.



4-1: The agency's commissioners approved the report in a 4-1 vote in April 2012



