Jackson County MO Joins Ban the Box Movement

Written By ESR News Blog Editor Thomas Ahearn

Jackson County, Missouri has joined the fast spreading Ban the Box movement and will no longer require job candidates applying for employment with the county to check a box on application forms if they have a criminal record, according to a report from the Kansas City Star.

The Star reports reports that the Ban the Box resolution for Jackson County, Missouri – signed by County Executive Frank White – “does not prevent county hiring managers from performing a background check, or from asking about an applicant’s criminal history in a job interview.”

Kansas City’s city government passed a Ban the Box order to stop requiring job applicants to check a box on application forms if they had a criminal record while Missouri state agencies adopted a Ban the Box policy under an executive order issued by Governor Jay Nixon last spring, The Star reports.

“The Ban the Box movement claims that convicted felons are unfairly screened out of consideration for employment when they are forced to disclose their criminal history up front,” The Star reports. The full story is at www.kansascity.com/news/politics-government/article113137963.html.

The Ban the Box  movement is spreading rapidly. According to the National Employment Law Project (NELP), more than 100 cities and counties as well as 24 states have adopted Ban the Box policies to delay the criminal history question until later in the hiring process.

Large U.S. employers who have taken the White House Fair Chance Business Pledge to Ban the Box include American Airlines, Best Buy, Coca-Cola, Facebook, Google, Hersheys, Lyft, Microsoft, PepsiCo, Staples, Starbucks, Uber, UnderArmour, Walmart, and Xerox.

ESR Offers Information about Ban the Box

Employment Screening Resources® (ESR) – a global background check firm – offers employers a Ban the Box Page with information about states, cities and counties, and resources. The ESR Ban the Box Page is available at www.esrcheck.com/Ban-the-Box/.

NOTE: Employment Screening Resources® (ESR) does not provide or offer legal services or legal advice of any kind or nature. Any information on this website is for educational purposes only.

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