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Ok,  in america peolle have to deal with "the box" on job application.  The box is the one yiu are supposed to check if yiu have any felony convictions. Checking it,  even for a minor falony or even if yiu we're later cleared of a false conviction, means you generally might as wel fold the application into an airplane and sail it into an inch stator for all the chances you'll have of  getting hired for any job  worth having.

A movement is on to "ban the box" in america,  removing employers right to ask about criminal records in some,  or many,  cases in an effort to make it possible for former convicts to actually, you  know,  get a decent job  and stay out of prison.

Naturally a lot of people in america are against this because,  well,  any chance they have to spew hate at peolle and make their lives worse and they're all over it.  "Hell with ex cons! Let 'em work at mcdonalds! Why should I hafta compete with them when I dint  get convicted of nuthin'? "

Other peolle think that once you've served your time in hell, I. E.  The US prison system,  you should do on laying for the rest  of your life.

I lean towards the ban the box movement but can understand peolle who reasonably say that they should have an advantage over people who were  convicted of felonies.  But given the injustice of the US court system I believe a lot of peolle get convicted of being unable ti afford a lawyer or of being the wrong color. So I donct believe a lot of convicts deserved their conviction

So how do peopel here feel abiut banning the box? And if youcre nit an american how does you country deal with ex cons and employment?

I gather some countries in Europe have the police (or some other criminal authority) do a background check, and basically it amounts to a pass/fail for the specific job.  That is, if you were convicted of embezzling twice at a bank, you'd fail the background check when applying at a bank.  If you're a convicted child molester trying to become a school custodian, you'd fail.  But "pass/fail" is all the check gets you - they don't even learn why you failed.  I'd like like to see some kind of a system like this, where you can lose out on opportunities related to high likelihood of recidivism for your particular history, that sort of thing, but not for almost every job ever.

A fne reply, very rational and intelligent.

Not seeing it happen in america anytime soon,  sadly.

do you even have a clue how many people get REAL food service jobs after going to jail? some of the best chefs i've ever known and worked with are convicted felons who became who they are NOW in prison. not to mention IT people. your ignorance shows yet again, DO YOUR RESEARCH BEFORE YOU SPEAK!  i am getting REALLY tired of these constant insults from someone who learns NOTHING before he speaks. what do YOU do for a living? have YOU been denied a job for a past offense? or are you pulling it out again?

And what about peolle who aren't into the food service industry?!?!

Yiu say I know nothing abut this?  A friend of mines life was ruined by a conviction for marijuana possession!  He was working to become a CGI artist,  a 3D model maker.  He was set of by a a marijuana dealer looking to make a deal,  and arrested buying a few joints which he smoked on weekends to relax after busting his hump all week learning to handle professional 3d work.

He refused to cop a dependent attitude for a victim less act and turned down a plea deal and drug rehab because he didn't ave a problem with it,  he used it to relax after a are week.

The DA went on a jihad against him and he ended up convicted if several felonies and sentenced to orison in a first non violent offence. He was not suited for prison.

When he got out he was changed, badly. But he tried to pick up his 3D modeling career and was flatky rejected at every turn. He never even got a callback.

So no,  not everyone with a felony conviction goes on to be a food worker,  so you  can take your vitriol and cram it.

HE ruined his life, sven. the phrase rebel without a cause comes to mind. he'd have gotten off with a slap on the wrist and no felony record if he had cooperated. yell him to go back to school and brush up on new techniques, he'll get help finding a position if he does that. see what a little research can do to help change your life?  :cheers:

He had a degree in his fields and was still shut out. you don;t even know him. for a huge number of people checking the box is a death sentence for any serious future career. and i still respect him for being honest and telling the court "Smoking a little marijuana isn't causing me any problems, YOU are." And yes he said that in court.

no, i DON'T know him. but i'm still trying to help him. he DOES need to brush up if he was in jail, and if he drops the attitude, he'll get the help he needs to get a job. i'm sure you do respect him, but what he did exhibits a lack of maturity that will put off an employer a LOT faster than a conviction. you can choose to offer him my advice and help him help himself, or you can blow it off and he'll stay unemployed. your choice.

He's pretty messed up from PTSD, being raped repeatedly in prison because you were seriously upcharged to force a plea bargain and being sentenced to a much harsher prison term with violent offenders when you weren't one can do that.

Plus he routinely saw more serious offenders get paroled early while he had to do his max sentence, which was nearly 10 years, left him kinda bitter.

HYe's going to have an attitude for the rest of his life.

he needs to see a therapist, sven. that kind of trauma can lead to suicide, if he doesn't get help. BUT. he also needs to understand why he ended up in that situation and learn to forgive himself for ending up there. that kind of subconscious guilt towards oneself also leads to suicide.
  that's the only way he CAN learn to "drop the attitude". i understand his bitterness, but he HAS to get past it if he wants to live a decent life in this world of ours. taking responsibility for himself and his actions will help him, and therapy could get him there.
  and for the record, i DO know whereof i speak, with my own friends and family members. some got hep, some didn't. the ones who didn't , most of them are dead. i don't want that to heppen to your friend.
   

Good topic. I don't look into my hirees' criminal history and I'm still alive. Unless you're applying for a job that requires you to be bonded, or unless you've been convicted of sex crimes against children or other especially egregious crimes, a person shouldn't be held back financially by his or her criminal record. Serve your sentence and you're forgiven. Yes, ban the box.

This happens also in the most "serious" jobs in Argentina, although I can't say for certain how much it affects every position. It's also a requirement to present a full medical exam, although I assume that happens everywhere.

I respect your view on this matter.

Are you in Argentina? My cousin's daughter lived there for about four years and loved it.

Born and currently living there.

Excellent! You meet people from all over here.

Tomatela con soda! (I hope I'm using that right. She said it was BA slang for "Talk you later, life is good..." At least I think that was her term.....)

Close! Like with any other slang term, it gets annoying to explain, but it's basically another form of "take it easy". This site is quite accurate and may help if you're interested in other phrases: https://www.fluentu.com/blog/spanish/argentine-spanish-slang-phrases/ (https://www.fluentu.com/blog/spanish/argentine-spanish-slang-phrases/)
Some particular words have great history, like the insult "pelotudo", which comes from times were certain soldiers used giant rock balls to fight and were sent to the front lines, usually to die first. It became an aggravation many years after that, when it started to be used for people who were too risky and careless with their decisions, and nowadays it's the ultimate insult for everything: idiot, stupid, annoying, useless, worthless, shortsighted... "pelotudo" can cover them all!

This thread went to strange places.  :drink:

I always find this to be an interesting topic.  There are a lot of jobs that won't hire a felon, so having the box on the application simply saves the employer time and money.  If the box wasn't there, they would end up making an offer to someone where the final process is determined by the background check.  When the background check is run the person would come back with a felony and not get the job.  Wasting the time and money of the employer and the person who's time was spent.  I believe that having the box provides value for both parties.