Media Alert
For Immediate Release
Date: 03/29/18
CONTACTS: Stephanie Jones 612-279-5818 or [email protected] or Jacquelyn Carpenter 612-666-8026 or [email protected]
What’s Fair in Hiring: Beyond Ban the Box
Twin Cities R!SE, an organization nationally recognized for its success in training lower income adults for long-term employment, has developed the \”Minnesota Employers’ Fair Chance Hiring Guide\” to support employers\’ efforts to recruit, hire, train and retain job seekers with criminal records. The kick-off event for the Minnesota Employers’ Fair Chance Hiring guide will be held on April 26th at the Sunrise Bank Community Event Space. Commissioner Kevin Lindsey, Minnesota Department of Human Rights, will host a panel discussion. This free event is open to all employers, HR professionals and community workforce organizations, but registration is requested.
\”Minnesota is facing a historic labor shortage. Yet, many Minnesota residents and potential workers remain unemployed or under-employed due to a past criminal conviction, despite having served their time and wanting to be a productive, contributing member of our community. The Minnesota Fair Chance Employers’ Guide provides a clear path for Minnesota corporations and businesses to hire those with criminal convictions in their past. It is a practical how-to guide that dispels the many myths surrounding hiring those with criminal history in their backgrounds,\” states Tom Streitz, President and CEO of Twin Cities R!SE.
By learning how to evaluate such applicants, employers can increase their supply of talented employees, meet their legal obligations, and improve their communities. The time is now, for both moral and economic reasons, for Minnesota employers to engage in an intentional and proactive strategy to move marginalized workers into the mainstream of their hiring practices. We hope this ‘how-to’ guide will become an active road map for employers to start hiring talented individuals into their workforce.
“In 2014, all employers implemented Ban the Box statewide, which really just moved the compliance topic and inquiry to the end of the hiring process vs. the beginning. What Ban the Box did not do was provide employers with tools to properly guide them through approaching this topic differently during their hiring process,” states Jacquelyn Carpenter, Business Development Manager at Twin Cities R!SE. “This guide will now provide that second step and address changing the hiring strategies that hinder employers and community members.”
The guide was developed in partnership with Root & Rebound, a workforce organization in California. Minnesota is now the third state to produce this guide as a resource for employers.
For more information on the event, the guide, and to register, go to https://fair-chance-mn.eventbrite.com. All attendees will receive a free copy of the guide.
About Twin Cities R!SE :
Twin Cities R!SE (TCR) transforms lives through personal empowerment, career training, and meaningful employment. We assist people who face multiple social and economic barriers get on the path to stable employment. Through our career training programs individuals gain the self-confidence they need to be financially independent and succeed at work and in life. As an outcomes-driven organization and a nationally recognized leader in Pay-For-Performance funding, Twin Cities R!SE demonstrates accountability and results. With job retention rates that far exceed local and national averages, Twin Cities R!SE helps individuals build a better life which, in turn, supports economic growth by providing stable employment leading to a better, stronger community.
