PHOENIX (AP) - Arizona Governor Doug Ducey is considering banning criminal background questions on job applications.
The policy for state agencies would delay the process of asking prospective employees for arrest or conviction information until later in the hiring process.
The policy would tie into Ducey’s efforts at reducing convicted criminals’ tendency to reoffend and providing second chances for convicted criminals, the Arizona Capitol Times reported (https://bit.ly/2ycqrIY ).
Several initiatives in the past two years have focused on this goal, from employment centers at prisons to food stamps for former drug felons to inmate fire crews.
A slide in a report put together by the Ducey administration said the policy would only apply to public sector jobs, not private companies, as a way to “model the behavior we want the private sector to follow.”
More than half of states have some form of policy that delays the process of asking about criminal records. Some states remove the box from governmental job applications, while others also require private employers to remove it.
The policy will be assessed by staff members, who will look at the impact of such policies, and what data and research show, Ducey spokesman Daniel Scarpinato said.
“Anything we do, we want to make sure it’s having a positive impact,” he said.
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Information from: Arizona Capitol Times, https://www.arizonacapitoltimes.com
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