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Why don’t employers hire people with criminal records?

On Behalf of | Dec 10, 2020 | Expungement

A person gets arrested. They get convicted, head to jail, and do their time. When they come out, they want to turn their life around. In their eyes, the time they spent in jail should effectively wash out the criminal conviction, setting things back to normal. 

But things are far from normal. With their criminal record, they discover that it’s harder to get a job. Why is it that employers will avoid people with records, even when they have done everything asked by the criminal justice system? 

Risks avoidance and legal restrictions affect hiring decisions

There are a lot of reasons that employers avoid job candidates with criminal records, but two of the big ones are that some jobs are restricted by law and that employers want to avoid risks. 

Consider, for example, someone who wants to become a police officer or a security guard. They need to carry a weapon to do that job. If they have a felony that prevents them from owning a weapon, those jobs are just off the table. Employers can’t consider hiring a felon for such positions because the laws prevent those people from meeting a specific requirement of the job.

When looking at risk avoidance, many companies just consider those with criminal records to be high-risk individuals. You may know that you’ll never do it again, but do they believe you? Even if they do, are they willing to hire you over another candidate who does not have a record?

When you have a criminal record, you may be able to get it expunged

These issues make it clear why having proper legal defense is so important. Even if you get convicted, though, you may still have options, such as expungement. Be sure you know what they are.