Posted on April 17th, 2017
BAN THE BOX: THE NEWEST WAY TO DRIVE BUSINESS OUT OF LOS ANGELES
Forcing private businesses to solve public problems never works. Businesses either move, outsource or automate in response to government actions or restrictions.
It’s that simple.
Ban the box has been implemented in over 150 cities in the United States and the implementation varies from one jurisdiction to the next.
The Los Angeles city council passed its version by a 12-1 vote.
What is Ban the Box?
The ordinance requires business owners in the city of Los Angeles with 10 or more employees to:
- Remove from the application process any question related to criminal history including the employment application itself.
- Make a conditional offer of employment prior to conducting any type of background investigation that may reveal criminal convictions.
- If a criminal conviction is found after investigation and the employer does not intend to hire the applicant, the employer must draft a written assessment that “effectively links the specific aspects of the applicant’s criminal history with risks inherent in the duties of the position.”
- After delivering the written assessment, the employer must leave the job open 5 business days to allow the applicant to respond in writing to the written assessment denying the applicant the position.
- If the applicant responds to the written assessment within 5 days, the employer must make an additional written assessment including the information provided by the applicant.
- If the employer still determines that it does not want to hire the applicant, the employer must provide the applicant a copy of the second written assessment and keep all files and records related to the interaction for a minimum of 3 years.
There you have it. This is the solution of the Los Angeles City Council to combat the very real problem of the inherent discrimination citizens with criminal convictions face when attempting to become rehabilitated contributing members of society.
I truly believe that rehabilitation is possible and that our society benefits from our rehabilitated citizens contributing to the work force rather than committing crimes.
And let’s be very real here, even if you do not agree with me that people can be rehabilitated or deserve a second chance, if we do not provide people with alternatives, we are not leaving them any choice but to commit crimes to survive.
Everyone has to eat.
I am not against Ban the Box as the battle cry to help combat the very real societal problem of recidivism.
I am against the nonsensical, backwards, ineffectual version provided by our elected officials in Los Angeles. And most of all I am utterly offended by the hypocrisy in which they make these ineffectual laws.
Guess Who is Exempt from Ban the Box?
The City of Los Angeles is one of the largest single employers in Los Angeles employing about 47,000 people in the city.
But I am going to give you just one guess who isn’t required to follow its own laws on Ban the Box?
BINGO! You guessed it, the City of Los Angeles.
Private business is forced to take on a public problem but the one entity that could make a considerable dent in the recidivism problem has conveniently exempted itself.
I am so fed up with laws that cause businesses to flee Los Angeles, I decided to do research on each member of the city council that voted for this terrible law. Not even one of them had a business background I could find anywhere on the internet.
If the city council understood business, they would offer incentives to businesses of every size to offer employment to rehabilitated citizens (tax breaks, expedited permitting, investment incentives).
Not only would that likely solve the recidivism problem, it would avoid additional problems that force employers to move, outsource or seek technology to replace people.
This current version of the law punishes private citizens who did not create the problem instead of providing incentives to encourage employers to help solve the problem for everyone’s benefit.
Ban the Box is Bad for LA Business
Los Angeles’ version of Ban the Box is going to cause the best employers to go away taking with them some of the better jobs.
Sure, there are some jobs that will never go away just based on their location requirements (restaurants and other services/construction and other hard labor) but industries like tech, manufacturing and production or any other industry that can be moved, outsourced or modernized will leave Los Angeles and take its high paying wages somewhere with leaders that understand basic economics.
It is not just the unfair regulation and the sheer hassle and expense that will drive business out of Los Angeles.
This version of Ban the Box creates liability for employers. Along with the requirements above, the law also includes fines, penalties and the incentive to sue employers if they elect not to hire.
Let’s ban this ridiculous attempt to push the City’s problems onto the group that is attempting to build Los Angeles; business owners. We’ve come to a place in history where the narrative is that business owners are bad. The family restaurant or start up tech company that this new law is going to effect is not Exxon.
Let’s stop treating them like they can sustain this continuous assault on their ability to operate. Without business owners, who is going to employ the people. The City? Not without the tax revenue from the businesses and the people they employ.
If we continue to have this kind of short sighted, uneducated decision making, it won’t be long before we become the west coast version of Detroit.