Leading specialist welfare
to work provider Working Links has launched its research report,
looking at employer attitudes towards ex-offenders.
Working Links is making policy recommendations
after publishing its ‘Prejudged: Tagged for Life’ report,
introduced at the party political fringe events and highlighting
employer attitudes across the UK. As a result, Working Links is
calling for policy reviews and a consultation looking at a new
Discrimination Act.
Working Links commissioned in depth
independent research* into employer attitudes towards ex-offenders,
revealing that criminal convictions are often used by employers to
reject people from the recruitment process. Findings include:
- 55% of employers would use a disclosed conviction to reject an
applicant outright or would discriminate against them compared to
an equally qualified candidate with no conviction
- Only 20% of employers have knowingly recruited an
ex-offender
- Employers wrongly believe ex-offenders will lack honesty and
reliability, whereas in reality over 60% of employers of
ex-offenders found that they worked as hard, if not harder than
those with no convictions
- 47% of employers had no policies in place regarding
ex-offenders but 67% would welcome guidance into this
area
In response to the findings Working Links have made the following
policy recommendations to the government and offender
services:
To government:
1. Implementation of the recommendations of the 2000 Review of
the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (ROA). All accepted by the
former government but never implemented.
2. A consultation on a new Offender Discrimination Act to evaluate
the potential to further limit the ability of employers to
discriminate against people with convictions, including the
reconsideration of the requirement to disclose minor offences and
the length of time until many offences are considered spent.
3. Review of possible financial incentives to encourage employers
to hire ex-offenders, potentially using the invest-to-save funding
model.
To offender services:
1. Greater support for offenders on release from prison in areas
such as motivation, preparing for work and building relevant
skills.
2. Expert advice and support for employers both before and during
employment and assistance in the development of effective and
inclusive policies for the employment of ex-offenders.
3. The government and offender services to work more closely
together to build greater awareness of the support available to
employers.
Working Links work with thousands of
offenders, delivering employment and skills schemes through their
various government schemes. As a result of the acute barriers
ex-offenders face in securing employment, Working Links has built
up dedicated offender programmes and services that are currently in
place within 55 UK prisons and probation areas.
Comments Debbie Ryan, Director of Market
Development at Working Links:
“Over 17% of 18-52 year olds in the UK have a
criminal record and 74% of ex-offenders are jobless on leaving
prison. Not only is employment vital to help people reintegrate
into society, but this equates to huge costs to the welfare and
benefits system and vastly increases re-offending rates, again at
an enormous cost to society.
“Our ‘Prejudged: Tagged for Life’ report
outlines the overwhelming barriers that ex-offenders face to find
work and clearly demonstrates the changes we have to make to ensure
that once an offender has served their sentence, they don’t go on
to face a lifetime of discrimination. We are now calling for
changes to legislation to ensure that the journey to employment is
fair to all those who seek it, as well as expert support for
employers to build their own confidence in employing
ex-offenders.”
Further details can be found in our
full report.
For more information on how Working Links helps communities,
please contact
us or call 0800 917 9262.