Post by Logan on Apr 12, 2016 4:40:33 GMT -6
ST. LOUIS • Missouri is removing questions about a job candidate’s criminal history from initial applications for work within state government, even as a legislative effort to also “ban the box” in the private sector stalls.
Democratic Gov. Jay Nixon on Monday signed an executive order at a St. Louis job training center that directs state departments, boards and commissions under the executive branch to strip questions about criminal history from the job applications prospective workers first fill out. Similar “ban the box” laws are in place in 21 other states and more than 100 cities and counties, according to the National Employment Law Project, an advocacy group.
“It is important to the state of Missouri and to our communities that every Missourian has a meaningful opportunity to compete for a job,” Nixon said. “That opportunity must include the thousands of men and women who have served time in prison, paid their debts to society and are attempting to successfully return to their communities as productive, law-abiding citizens.”
Nixon cited Missouri Department of Corrections data showing a 44 percent unemployment rate for state residents on parole in 2015. That compares to an overall statewide unemployment rate of 4.2 percent in February, the lowest mark in more than 15 years.
Read more: www.stltoday.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/missouri-removing-box-on-convictions-from-job-applications/article_b24ad8c8-458e-5d2c-8d78-2c3551de71cd.html
Democratic Gov. Jay Nixon on Monday signed an executive order at a St. Louis job training center that directs state departments, boards and commissions under the executive branch to strip questions about criminal history from the job applications prospective workers first fill out. Similar “ban the box” laws are in place in 21 other states and more than 100 cities and counties, according to the National Employment Law Project, an advocacy group.
“It is important to the state of Missouri and to our communities that every Missourian has a meaningful opportunity to compete for a job,” Nixon said. “That opportunity must include the thousands of men and women who have served time in prison, paid their debts to society and are attempting to successfully return to their communities as productive, law-abiding citizens.”
Nixon cited Missouri Department of Corrections data showing a 44 percent unemployment rate for state residents on parole in 2015. That compares to an overall statewide unemployment rate of 4.2 percent in February, the lowest mark in more than 15 years.
Read more: www.stltoday.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/missouri-removing-box-on-convictions-from-job-applications/article_b24ad8c8-458e-5d2c-8d78-2c3551de71cd.html