Does your organisation employ ex-offenders?

If not, let 2021 be the year to change your perception of people with a criminal record and reap the benefits of diversifying your recruitment process.

Towards the end of 2020, the Ministry of Justice changed legislation to remove some ex-offenders' employment barriers. The new law reduces the time that certain criminal convictions must be disclosed on job applications. The change is a welcome step to increasing employment rates for ex-offenders. Yet there is still a huge stigma around employing people with a criminal record; just 17% of ex-offenders manage to get a job within a year of release. If real change is going to happen, it needs to occur in the boardroom, not the courtroom.

Social responsibility versus risk

​According to the Department for Work & Pensions, 75% of employers discriminate against applicants because of a criminal record, and 50% of employers say they would not recruit people with a conviction.

The issue is that our criminal justice system exists to hold people to account for their actions, not employers, the media or those in wider society. If we can’t forgive the people who break our laws, and rehabilitate and accept them back into our communities once they’ve served their sentence, what is the point of having a criminal justice system? And what does it say about our society? Don’t we all have a responsibility to support those who have made mistakes and are looking to rebuild their lives?

But why should employers be the ones to shoulder the risk and forgive and forget? Do they have a social responsibility to do so? Isn’t it easier to just recruit job seekers without criminal convictions? First, let’s assess whether employing someone with a criminal record is even a risk.

The benefits of employing ex-offenders

​Reducing recruitment costs by working with organisations and charities that help to rehabilitate ex-offenders.

• Closing the skills gap by tapping into the wide range of experience ex-offenders have across various sectors.

• Loyal and hardworking staff. Ex-offenders are often committed to turning their lives around, and their jobs are the driving force behind this change.

• Increased diversity. Ex-offenders come from various backgrounds and have different experiences that can enrich your business. We know that more diverse teams perform more effectively.

Making a difference

Reoffending currently costs the UK taxpayer £15 billion a year, but studies show that getting a job when you leave prison significantly reduces the chance of reoffending. With this in mind, it’s no surprise that 81% of people think businesses employing ex-offenders positively contribute to society.

Emma Wilson, Deputy Director of Operations at the charity Apex Scotland, which helps ex-offenders develop new skills and secure employment, adds: “​There are huge misunderstanding and knowledge gaps around risk and the recruitment of people with convictions, primarily around the relevance of the conviction to the job at hand. This means employers miss tapping into a significant cross-section of the skilled working-age population. ​Increasingly, there is the requirement for supported businesses, such as Apex's All Cleaned Up, to take the initial perceived risk by offering work experience opportunities and providing an essential pathway to sustained and meaningful employment.

“It’s heartbreaking when you have an​ individual in front of you ​who is determined to turn their lives around, but nobody will give them a chance. Some employers worry that people in prison won’t be honest or trustworthy and might reoffend again. ​People with convictions are often loyal, hard-working and grateful for the opportunity to have a second chance.”

Who's doing it well?

From SMEs to big blue-chip companies, there are plenty of success stories from organisations recruiting ex-offenders and reaping the rewards of diversifying recruitment. One of the UK’s largest employers of ex-offenders in the UK is Timpson, where approximately 10% of its workforce is made up of people who have criminal convictions. Timpson's website states: “We believe in giving people a second chance. We don’t judge people on what they have done in the past, preferring instead to focus on what they can do in the future…. Simply put, recruiting ex-offenders has been great for our business.”

Retailer Halfords has also seen its Drake Hall prison training project go from strength to strength. Group People Director, Jonathan Crookall, explained to Retail Gazette: “We believe that projects like Drake Hall are a real win-win for businesses and local communities alike…. We’re not just talking about prisoners, we’re talking about people with a huge amount of potential and skills, and above all, it’s about changing people’s lives.”

What can you do?

​Gerry Keogh from Unlock believes that one of the most important things is that employers recruit ex-offenders because they are the right person for the job, not because it helps meet their corporate responsibility targets. He explains: “Lots of companies claim to be working with ex-offenders, but plenty of others do so and don’t declare it. Employing ex-offenders doesn’t have to be part of your business model, but you should look at some barriers to employment in your recruitment process and help disadvantaged individuals - including ex-offenders or people with learning and physical disabilities - to move past them. When it comes to ex-offenders, it’s about changing the narrative and recognising that many people with a past conviction have the skills you need and want to move on with their lives and work for you. If you can give them a chance, help them grow their confidence and self-belief and develop their skills, you might find they make some of the best performing and most loyal employees.”

6 things to support ex-offenders in employment:

1. Download the New Future’s Network Employing prisoners and ex-offenders guide and register your interest in becoming a partner. 300 employers have registered, including Halfords, Redemption Roasters and Balfour Beatty.

2. Contact an organisation like Apex, Unlock, Working Chance, Step Together, St Giles Trust, Trailblazers and the Clink Charity to create work experience and work placements for ex-offenders within your business.

3. Book a training course with The National Association for the Care and Resettlement of Offenders (NACRO), a national charity which supports ex-offenders, to ensure your HR team understands changes in legislation and checks that your hiring processes are compliant.

4. Ban the Box. The rules around disclosing criminal records to employers make it extremely difficult for ex-offenders to even make it to an interview, never mind get a job. Don’t ask applicants to disclose criminal convictions on your online application form; wait until after you have interviewed them.

5. Share information about the offender employment campaign on your social media accounts and encourage companies in your supply chain to follow suit.

6. Contact Offploy – a social enterprise specialising in supporting offenders' recruitment – and embeds them in your supply chain. They have a four-step process to help employers recruit, support and retain ex-offenders and ensure they become valuable members of their workforce. They have also just launched a huge recruitment drive in the north of England.

How we can help

At Samtaler, we understand the importance of your social value commitment. You’re here because you care about the impact your business has on society and want to be better. We want you to succeed, and we know from experience that achieving social value requires skill, strategy, and support.

To find out how we can help send an email to hello@samtaler.co.uk

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