New Columbia ordinance to remove employment barriers for former inmates

Columbia, SC (WOLO) — The City of Columbia is the first to make a major move they hope will take the handcuffs off of former inmates, ultimately creating a level playing field when it comes to getting out of jail, and getting a job.

Mayor Steve Benjamin gave ABC Columbia a one on one interview to talk about what this will mean for the city.

First, the Mayor tells us, it’s a historical move that will keep employers from requiring former inmates to disclose their prior criminal history. A law that has not been put in place anywhere else in the Midlands. To that, Mayor Benjamin says, “the City of Columbia is proud to be a city that leads by example”

Although the new law was only passed in August, Columbia has already been slowly been implementing it into the way they hire anyone who woks for city. The goal Benjamin says is to show those who may have taken a wrong turn, that mistakes happen, but as a forgiving city we it’s important to let anyone who may have been through the system know that there is a such thing as second chances.

“it’s designed to make sure that folks who have gone through the system, some very early in their lives have the opportunity to once again participate in the American economic dream.. If you give a man or a woman a job, an opportunity to take care of themselves and their families, it takes care of so many other social issues that we deal with every single day and that’s what we’re doing with this.”

One of those issues, is the stigma that the Mayor says can sometimes come on an application for a new job. Forcing a person who has been incarcerated to tell his or her criminal pass, during the initial interview process, can often leave a potential employer paying attention to a box on a piece of paper instead of the person sitting in front of them.

Mayor Benjamin calls the move a job procurement process that is going to be done aggressively so that other businesses within the city limits use it in their hiring practices as well, and so far Benjamin says the law has been well received and already catching on in the city.

According to the Mayor the law that passed unanimously will keep employer from asking about their criminal past at the beginning of the interview process, but businesses looking to hire someone, under this new law will still reserve the right to ask the question later. In essence, giving the former inmate from being judged, before they even have a chance to show what skills they bring to the table. For someone who walks out from behind bars, and is trying to turn their lives around now has a fighting chance to get a job where they can become a productive member of society.

” It’s going to be an aggressive effort to try to make it clear that we’re a compassionate city, we’re an inclusive city and we realize it’s just a smart thing to do. We just believe that if we want to be a certain city that lives by certain values, those values mean we believe in second chances. “

According to the Mayor, Statistics show there are the same amount of people with a criminal record as there are enrolled in college. He says if the only thing standing in the way of changing that is a single box, it needs to be banned.

Another interesting part of this new “Ban the Box” law, is that it not only focused on changing the opportunities that are available for someone who may have a criminal past, but also would keep a potential employer from being able to ask someone how much they were paid at their previous employment. Mayor Benjamin says, the goal of this portion of the law is to help reduce the gender pay gap and make sure that men and women alike are being hired and paid what they are worth.