Ban the Box Campaign
This campaign calls on UK employers to give people with criminal records a fair chance to compete for jobs by removing the tick box from application forms and instead asking about criminal convictions later in the recruitment process, if necessary. The form below is your organisations first step to becoming a Ban the Box employer.
About Ban the Box
We are calling on organisations to join the Ban the Box movement to ensure that no one is left behind by a tick box.
Companies that sign up to Ban the Box commit to:
– Removing any tick box from job application forms that ask about criminal convictions.
– Considering applicants’ skills, experience and ability to do the job before asking about criminal convictions.
– Reviewing their employment processes to ensure that when a candidate discloses a criminal conviction they are given a full opportunity to explain the situation.
– Ensuring that the circumstances of any conviction are fairly assessed against their relevance to and risk within the role before a decision is made.
Resources
Why Ban the Box?
Read our ‘Why Ban the Box’ factsheet to discover the reasons why your company should Ban the Box.
Employers Guide
This Ban the Box employer guide takes you through the four steps to becoming a Ban the Box practitioner.
Who has Banned the Box?
Find out who the Ban the Box employers are and why Ban the Box is important to them and how they manage their application processes.
Opening Doors Campaign
Opening Doors is BITC’s flagship inclusive recruitment campaign. Open to all employers, and free to join, we have an ambition to make 2 millions jobs more accessible to diverse talent, including people with convictions, but supporting employers to make changes to the way that they recruit.
Featured content
Frequently asked questions
Signing up to Ban the Box has many business benefits:
- Address skills shortages – there are 12 million people in England and Wales with a conviction (Unlock, 2022), most of whom haven’t been to prison and the majority of which (67%) committed a non-violent crime (Ministry of Justice, 2019). Making your jobs accessible to people with experience of the criminal justice system will significantly increase your talent pool, ensuring you don’t miss out on the perfect candidate simply because of something unrelated to the job.
- Increase diversity – excluding people from work based on prior convictions disproportionately affects people from ethnically diverse communities (Lammy Review, 2017). By signing up to Ban the Box, you will make it easier to recruit a diverse workforce.
- Improve customer reputation – four-fifths of people think that businesses employing people with convictions make a positive contribution to society (Ministry of Justice, 2019).
No. There is no cost to becoming a Ban the Box employer, and any UK employer can sign up.
Ban the Box calls on employers to create a fair opportunity for people with convictions by removing the tick box from application forms and asking about criminal convictions later in the recruitment process if and when it becomes necessary. Signing up to Ban the Box is now one of the actions included in our Opening Doors campaign.
People with criminal records face significant challenges finding employment, even if their convictions are unrelated to the job. Ban the Box levels the playing field, giving them a chance to showcase their skills and rebuild their lives.
