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Supporters of Ban the Box laws believe that the laws will help black workers who are statistically more likely to have criminal histories than white workers. They believe that black applicants will have a better chance of getting called for an interview if they do not have to reveal a criminal history on a job application.

Some states and cities around the country have enacted Ban the Box laws. Researchers recently looked at the effects these laws had on black workers as compared to white workers in New York City and New Jersey. Surprisingly, these researchers found that Ban the Box laws actually hurt black applicants’ chances of getting called for an interview.

What could explain this counter-intuitive result? The researchers who conducted the study have several theories. One theory is that when employers have information about applicants’ races but not their criminal histories, employers base their decisions on the knowledge that, in general, black people are more likely to have criminal histories than white people.

mrklean wrote:Why do we need the BOX?
It's 2016 not 1916.

JohnStOnge wrote:

mrklean wrote:Why do we need the BOX?
It's 2016 not 1916.

Apparently to keep people from making assumptions. In any case, government ought not to be telling businesses what they can and cannot ask on job applications to begin with.

mrklean wrote:Why do we need the BOX?
It's 2016 not 1916.

Ibanez wrote:

mrklean wrote:Why do we need the BOX?
It's 2016 not 1916.

Because some people can't be trusted.

Skjellyfetti wrote:

JohnStOnge wrote:
Apparently to keep people from making assumptions. In any case, government ought not to be telling businesses what they can and cannot ask on job applications to begin with.

I thought the "Ban the Box" laws were about government jobs?

Surely the government can say what should be asked on government applications, no? Federal government should be able to mandate federal government application standards, state government for state applications, local government for local government applications, etc.

Has any government organization mandated it for private business or are you creating an issue where it doesn't exist?

ASUG8 wrote:It's a waste of time to ban the box, spend the time interviewing, then dig up a criminal history on a background check and disqualify them anyway.

CAA Flagship wrote:

ASUG8 wrote:It's a waste of time to ban the box, spend the time interviewing, then dig up a criminal history on a background check and disqualify them anyway.

This.

I took kleany's remark above to mean this. We can do background checks easier now than ever before. What's the point of the box other than eliminating the candidate sooner rather than later?

I think I would want to know all the positive qualities of a person first. Then introduce the negatives into the equation. Then decide if I could live with the negatives in order to get the positives. It's like selecting women. Hot looks and hot body will get your attention first. Then you have to decide if you want to put up with her bullshit.

Skjellyfetti wrote:

JohnStOnge wrote:
Apparently to keep people from making assumptions. In any case, government ought not to be telling businesses what they can and cannot ask on job applications to begin with.

I thought the "Ban the Box" laws were about government jobs?

Surely the government can say what should be asked on government applications, no? Federal government should be able to mandate federal government application standards, state government for state applications, local government for local government applications, etc.

Has any government organization mandated it for private business or are you creating an issue where it doesn't exist?

In recent years, lawmakers have debated whether to prohibit employers from asking about criminal history on job applications

GrizFanStuckInUtah wrote: I would agree that the guvmint can control what is on their application, I don't believe they should control what is on a private business application.