Unlocking Employment

The U.S. faces a labor shortage, and employers are looking to expand their efforts toward diversity, equity, and inclusion. Yet current hiring methods exclude nearly 70 million Americans with a conviction history. Ninety percent of private employers use criminal background checks, but less than half engage in individualized assessment to determine whether a criminal record should disqualify a candidate.

People with criminal records are often denied employment because of discrimination and face added disadvantages related to employment history, education, skills, and career capital gaps. Employers and jobseekers need new tools to replace decades-old hiring heuristics that are inefficient and inequitable.

Join us as Timothy McNutt, Director of Cornell ILR’s Criminal Justice and Employment Initiative, discusses policies to help integrate job seekers with criminal records into the workforce. He will present the Yang-Tan Workability Incubator’s Restorative Record, a new tool to help employers and job seekers look beyond traditional résumés, cover letters, and background reports that narrow talent pools.