Analysis of job applicant data from one large employer suggests that a policy meant to improve employment prospects for people with criminal records did not actually lead to changes in job offers for people with records. Deborah Weiss of Northwestern University, U.S., and colleagues present these findings in the open-access journal PLOS One on April 16, 2025.
Parts of the U.S. have introduced "Ban-the-Box" (BTB) laws, which aim to improve job prospects for people with criminal records. BTB policies often include a screening ban prohibiting employers from asking about an applicant's criminal record until after a conditional job offer, as well as a ban against withdrawal of a conditional offer based on a criminal record unless it is related closely enough to job duties.
Prior research on BTB policies has had mixed results, suggesting they may be effective in some settings but not others. However, due to challenges in obtaining internal employer data, it has been unclear how BTB may affect specific phases of the hiring process beyond initial screening. Now, Weiss and colleagues have completed the first study of BTB looking at later hiring phases.
The researchers statistically analyzed employment data from an academic health science center, covering a period of 25 months before and 52 months after enactment of a BTB policy.
They found that introduction of the policy had little or no statistical association with the rates of conditional employment offers for people with criminal records. In addition, the rate of people with records passing a final background check did not change.
After BTB implementation, in fact, people with certain prior convictions were less likely to be hired, suggesting the possibility that any benefits of a screening ban might be reversed during subsequent candidate assessment. While the study could not confirm any underlying cause-effect relationship, the researchers suggest that hiring managers might, perhaps unintentionally, undo the effects of BTB policies. After enactment of BTB policies, hiring managers might increase reliance on hiring criteria that are correlated with criminal history, such as personality traits, resulting in statistical discrimination, against applicants with criminal records.
It is unclear from the results of the study how well these findings might generalize to similar employers. Nonetheless, they underscore the possibility that the success of BTB policies may depend on the setting.
The authors add: "The most powerful tool we have to reduce recidivism is employment. People with criminal records need real chances to work and rebuild their lives. Public policy cannot limit itself to a single tool like 'ban the box'—it must address the full range of barriers these individuals face when seeking work."
In your coverage, please use this URL to provide access to the freely available article in PLOS One: https://plos.io/4iHXKJw
Citation: Weiss DM, Dawson W, McKinley R, Webster L (2025) Do ban-the-box policies increase the hiring of applicants with criminal records? PLoS ONE 20(4): e0320736. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0320736
Author countries: U.S.
Funding: The author(s) received no specific funding for this work.
