How can we prevent a criminal record from becoming an automatic ticket to unemployment after prison.Criminal records—and how employers interpret them—have long been identified as a barrier to employment for those who carry them.Employment is a key factor in helping people with criminal records to turn their lives around. Yet the stigma of a criminal record makes it very difficult for these individuals to obtain employment.In order to break this vicious circle, some jurisdictions, especially in the US, have “banned the box” to prevent employers from asking job applicants about their criminal record early in the application process. The “box” refers to the checkbox on application forms asking the applicant to indicate whether they have a criminal record.
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