A CHARITY has pledged support to a campaign giving ex-convicts a fair chance to compete for jobs.
Heart of England Mencap has signed up to the national Ban The Box campaign – which encourages companies to stop asking whether job candidates have a conviction on application forms. Instead, the applicant will be asked later in the recruitment process.
The charity – which supports people with learning disabilities across Warwickshire – joins more than 150 employers already signed up, covering more than one million roles.
The campaign is run by Business in the Community – the Prince’s Responsible Business Network, created by The Prince of Wales more than 40 years ago.
Charity chief executive Helena Wallis said: “We support increased work opportunities for a wide range of communities that have previously faced discrimination and prejudice, including people that have been in the criminal justice system.
“We are committed to ensuring our recruitment processes are fair and based on assessing people’s values and skills. Through this approach we believe we will open up more employment opportunities for people that may have previously been excluded.
“We are engaged in caring for people and do require an Enhanced DBS, however there are situations where we can assess the risk and we will be transparent and open with all candidates where this is required.”
Visit www.bitc.org.uk/fact-sheet/employers-that-have-banned-the-box for more information.
