Target Removing Criminal History Section from Job Applications

The Minneapolis-based Target Corporation, the nation’s second-largest retailer, announced last Thursday that it will remove questions about criminal history from its job applications in Minnesota and throughout the nation. The move came in response to a new Minnesota law and intense pressure from a grassroots campaign demanding that the company reduce employment barriers faced by people with criminal records.

While 10 states and over 50 cities around the country have enacted “ban the box” policies, eliminating the check-box that asks about an applicant’s criminal record, Target joins a select group of large private employers that have taken steps to end blanket hiring exclusions that make it nearly impossible for anyone with a criminal record to get a job.

“Target is finally doing the right thing by reforming its hiring policies so that qualified job applicants aren’t automatically screened out simply because they have an arrest or conviction from the past,” said Christine Owens, executive director of the National Employment Law Project. “Other large retailers around the nation need to follow suit, because their hiring policies send a strong message about whether they are committed to the communities that support their business.”

Earlier this year, Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton signed a law expanding the state’s ban-the-box policy to cover private employers. Starting January 1, 2014, all employers in Minnesota will be required to wait until a job applicant has been selected for an interview or a given a conditional offer of employment before asking the applicant about her criminal history or conducting a criminal background check.

At a community forum hosted by TakeAction Minnesota last week, Target’s Vice President of Employee and Labor Relations, Jim Rowader, announced that Target would not only comply with the Minnesota law for job applicants within the state but would “ban the box” from all Target job applications around the county.

“The Council on Crime and Justice and other members of the Minnesota Second Chance Coalition worked tirelessly to pass statewide ban-the-box legislation. Not only is Target complying with the new law here, they are doing the right thing around the country by giving people the opportunity to be judged for their skills and qualifications first,” said Mark Haase, vice president at the Council on Crime and Justice, based in Minneapolis.

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