DISCRIMINATION IN EMPLOYMENT ON THE
BASIS OF CRIMINAL RECORD

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Submission No.20 - Centre for Labour Market Research (CLMR), University of Western Australia

Work in progress, not for quotation

Any questions regarding this submission should be directed to:

Dr Margaret Giles
Postdoctoral Research Fellow
Centre for Labour Market Research (M409)
The University of Western Australia
Crawley WA 6009
Ph: (08) 6488 8673
Email: mgiles@biz.uwa.edu.au

Centre for Labour Market Research (CLMR)

The Centre for Labour Market Research is a consortium of The University of Western Australia, Curtin University of Technology, Murdoch University and the University of Canberra. It has branches in Perth and Canberra with its administrative office located at The University of Western Australia in Perth. The Centre leads research projects funded by competitive research grants and contracts; conducts seminars and workshops for academics and practitioners; and publishes in a number of fora including a discussion paper series, newsletters, conference papers and making contributions to books and journals. The Centre is home to the Australian Journal of Labour Economics.

The broad objectives of CLMR include:

to further the knowledge and understanding of labour markets and related issues, with special reference to Australian labour markets and other markets in the Asia Pacific Region; and
to promote the exchange of knowledge and expertise on labour economics and industrial relations between the academic community, governments, business and trade unions.

Foreword and Acknowledgements

CLMR is pleased to offer the following submission to HREOC Discrimination in Employment on the Basis of Criminal Record Discussion Paper.

Our submission is based largely on a workshop paper (attached) by Dr Tram Le and Dr Margaret Giles presented at the Australian Labour Market Research Workshop hosted by CLMR in December 2004.

Executive Summary

This submission responds to a number of questions raised in the HREOC December 2004 Discussion Paper on Discrimination in Employment on the Basis of Criminal Record. Attached to the submission is our recent workshop paper (Giles and Le, 2004) in which the issue of discrimination in employment on the basis of criminal record is raised. As our focus was on ex-prisoners, this terminology has been used in lieu of the broader category of persons with criminal records.

We argue that the population of ex-prisoners is sufficiently heterogeneous that a one-size-fits-all approach to reducing workplace discrimination for this group is not appropriate. Nor is the more resource-intensive case-by-case approach necessary.

Our findings are that the labour market choices of ex-prisoners differ across a few characteristics such as gender, age, number of prison terms and period of incarceration. Moreover there are useful predictors of labour market success for ex-prisoners that could be used to develop post-prison employment strategies. For example, education and training opportunities in prisons which are skill-specific and targeted to areas of high labour demand improve the employability of ex-prisoners.

Specific Responses

2(b). Practical difficulties facing people with criminal records who are seeking employment are:

Low levels of education (Giles, 2005) which mitigate against thorough job search and application preparation.
Lack of 'soft skills' (reliability and trustworthiness) proxied by homelessness and repeat offending (Giles and Le, 2004: 4);
Decay of human capital due to gap(s) in employment record(s) (Giles and Le, 2004: 4);
Low labour market demand in areas with similar demographics to the ex-prisoner population (Giles and Le, 2004: 4);
Lack of interview and presentation skills (Giles and Le, 2004: 4);
Poor health, both physical and mental that could impact on attending interviews and maintaining jobs. This could be exacerbated by substance abuse problems (Giles and Le, 2004: 4-5);
Lack of social networks that could provide informal or formal job references (Giles and Le, 2004: 3); and

2(f). Prior incarcerations reduce the probability of employment (Giles and Le, 2004: Table 2, 15) for a variety of reasons, one of which is the stigma of criminality. That is, employers may be reluctant to employ ex-prisoners (Giles and Le, 2004: 16). Their reasons may pertain to a skills appraisal including their assessment of 'soft skills' and the erosion of human capital during employment gaps and a subjective assessment of the health of the ex-prisoner. The selection criteria addressed by the applicant may not make these factors explicit. In an interview, however, the employer may take these into consideration. Statistical discrimination in which employers categorise an individual ex-prisoner applicant on the basis of past experience or prejudice related to ex-prisoners per se (Norris, Kelly, and Giles, 2005: 145) might apply also.

Giles et al. (2004) state that "A common concern expressed by many prisoners in their sample of WA prisons is that completed courses and work experience are not useful if criminal records affect their chances of being recruited". However, in WA the correctional authorities are proactive in approaching prospective employers and industry groups to affirm criteria for ex-prisoner labour, particularly in areas of high labour demand.

2(g). Strategies to address ongoing stereotyping of ex-prisoners include:

Reworking of the Job Seeker Classification Instrument (Giles and Le, 2004: 6) to acknowledge the heterogeneity of ex-prisoners; and
Investigation of in prison training and study opportunities to determine those best suited to labour market re-entry (Giles, 2005: 16).

3(d) and 4(a). Difficulties for ex-prisoners using anti-discrimination legislation and understanding the contents of criminal records checks include:

Poor education levels including literacy (Giles, 2005: 10-11); and
Poor social networks (Giles and Le, 2004: 3).

References

Giles, M. (2005, 23 - 25 February). Doing Time: in Prison Activity Choices for Prisoners in Western Australia, 2003. Paper presented at the Transitions and Risk: New Directions in Social Policy Conference, Centre for Public Policy, University of Melbourne.

Giles, M., & Le, A. T. (2004, December 6 - 7). Labour Market Activites of Prisoners. Paper presented at the 2004/2005 Australian Labour Market Research Workshop, St Catherine's Residental College, The University of Western Australia.

Giles, M., Le, A. T., Allan, M., Lees, C., Larsen, A.-C., & Bennett, L. (2004). To Train or Not to Train: The Role of Education and Training in Prison to Work Transitions (Final Report Version 1 - NCVER No. NR 3022). Perth: Centre for Labour Market Research.

Norris, K., Kelly, R., & Giles, M. (2005). Economics of Australian Labour Markets (6th ed.). Frenchs Forest, NSW: Pearson Education Australia.

LABOUR MARKET ACTIVITIES OF PRISONERS

by Margaret Giles, Centre for Labour Market Research, University of Western Australia and Anh T. Le, School of Economics and Commerce, University of Western Australia

Paper to be presented to the 2004/2005 Australian Labour Market Research Workshop December 6 - 7 2004 at St Catherine's Residential College , The University of Western Australia.

Abstract

This paper examines the employment success and intended labour market activities of prisoners. The results suggest that repeat offenders are less likely to be employed than non-repeat offenders. It appears that prior imprisonment captures the stigma attached to criminality which limits the employment success of ex-offenders. The labour market choices of prisoners after their release from prison differ across gender, age and the period of incarceration. However, the data is unable to confirm if labour market choices of prisoners differ from that of the general population.

Click here to download the paper Labour Market Activities of Prisoners, which is available for download in PDF Format.

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DISCRIMINATION IN EMPLOYMENT ON THE BASIS OF CRIMINAL RECORD