There’s Virtually No Risk In Hiring People With Conviction Records, New Data Shows

Findings from a new study reveals that the workforce should prepare to become even more inclusive.

Researchers from the Legal Action Center examined “every negligent hiring decision disclosed by a computer-assisted search since the cause of action was first recognized in 1974 up until 2022,” and published its analysis in a report released this year. Overall, they found that the previously presumed risks associated with hiring those with conviction records are far less.

“For jobs that do not involve any of these risks, such as the vast majority of office and factory jobs, negligent hiring liability is virtually non-existent,” per a statement from the study’s announcement.

About 80 million Americans of the total U.S. adult population have some sort of criminal record and a large number of them have been adversely affected professionally.

“Conviction records alone do not provide employers with the complete picture of what someone can offer a company. And as our findings show, when these records are relevant, employers can take simple measures to minimize their exposure to risk,” Lewis Maltby, president and CEO of National Workrights Institute and principal author of the report, said in a statement. “The urgency of altering hiring practices and eliminating the stigma associated with a conviction record in the process grows every day as mass incarceration persists and the national labor shortage continues to strain our economy.”