- Target:
- North Carolina General Assembly
- Region:
- United States of America
House Bill 233 is a bill currently pending in the Senate of the NC General Assembly that includes a “Ban the Box” ordinance that intends to limit workplace discrimination related to people with criminal backgrounds. The box in “Ban the Box” refers to a question that often appears on job applications that asks whether or not the applicant has been convicted of a crime. Wake County’s current policies to remove the box are not enough, and our elected officials need to pass the existing Wake County ordinance into law.
The proposed law would remove those questions from the application at the initial stage of the employment process provides those who are responsible for making hiring decisions with an opportunity to explore more about the candidate's experience, skills, and personality. Among other protections, the applicant would be able to discuss the accuracy of any record obtained by the employer and submit evidence of rehabilitation to the job which they are applying. As the State of North Carolina strongly encourages and in some cases, mandates, background checks for all state employees, the companies would be able to access the criminal record of the applicant if they so choose; however, this law would decrease preliminary discrimination of former convicts who wish to enter the workforce, and thus lessen the stigmas that ex-cons face.
We, the undersigned, are asking Senators Dan Blue, Chad Barefoot, Tamara Barringer, and John M. Alexander Jr. of the North Carolina General Assembly to pass House Bill 233 which includes a “Ban the Box” bill to end workplace discrimination related to people with criminal backgrounds. The box in “Ban the Box” refers to a question that often appears on job applications that asks whether or not the applicant has been convicted of a crime. North Carolina strongly encourages, and in some cases, mandates, thorough background checks on all who seek employment that would reveal any notable criminal activity; furthermore, we feel that the box is an excessive measure used to prematurely weed out candidates that were convicted of a crime. We believe that after criminals have served their time, they should be able to transition back into society, and as long as the box is there, these reinstated citizens will be released but never free. While there are various counties in the state of North Carolina that have ordinances towards this same issue, we feel that those ordinances do not do enough to protect all citizens of North Carolina who were formerly incarcerated; therefore, we implore the aforementioned Senators to sign House Bill 233, thus lessening the stigmatization of ex-convicts in the State of North Carolina. Thank you.
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The Ban the Box Petition petition to North Carolina General Assembly was written by Rayna Young and is in the category Civil Rights at GoPetition.