Ban the Box: No Excuses in the Financial Services
More than a quarter of working age people in England and Wales have a conviction1. Employers who refuse to give a fair chance to anyone with experience of the criminal justice system are potentially missing out on a significant pool of skilled talent. Financial services firms often shy away from Ban the Box, citing restrictions imposed by their regulator. But in reality, the financial services regulators do not impose a blanket ban on employing people with convictions, rather they advocate a risk-based, individualised approach.
This factsheet sets out how Ban the Box can – and does – work in the financial services sector.
What is Ban the Box?
Business in the Community’s Ban the Box campaign calls on employers to give people with unspent convictions a fair chance to compete for jobs by removing the tick box that asks about criminal convictions from their application forms. It does not prevent employers from asking about criminal convictions at all but rather requires that when they do, they take a risk-based approach and do not operate a blanket exclusion.
GIVE PEOPLE WITH CRIMINAL
CONVICTIONS A CHANCE
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.
References
1 Unlock, 2022