Are Criminal History Checks a Thing of the Past? Dan Prokott Discusses "Banning the Box" in MarketWatch

The "ban the box" movement gained a major proponent on Nov. 2, when President Obama directed the Office of Personnel Management to delay criminal history questions to later in the job application process for positions at federal agencies. Dan Prokott, partner in Faegre Baker Daniels labor and employment practice, discussed the impact of banning the box—a policy that has already been implemented by many state and local governments—in a MarketWatch article that was also published nationally on MSN Money and Morningstar.

While President Obama’s executive order and “ban the box” laws are intended to give applicants with criminal records a chance to provide context to their criminal background, Prokott said they do not altogether remove criminal history from the process or mean that employers cannot reject an applicant because of his or her criminal record.

“It probably has not eliminated criminal history from what is considered in the hiring process,” Prokott says. “It’s just put it at a different phase in the hiring process.”