Unlock cautiously welcomes incentives for employers who take on young adults

Unlock welcomes the Chancellor’s summer statement, in particular, incentivising employers to create training placements and apprenticeships for young adults. This age group has been significantly affected by the impact of the coronavirus pandemic – by mid-June, around a third of 18-24 year olds had been furloughed or made redundant. The ‘Kickstart’ scheme means 16-24 year
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What’s your experience of ban the box?

As part of our fair access to employment project, we are gathering evidence of employers’ approaches to people with criminal records. We work with employers to develop fair policies and practices and highlight good practice. Ban the box is a key part of helping people with convictions get back into the workplace, and we have
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Blog – Looking to the future: incentivising employment of people with convictions

It’s fair to say 2020 has been a year of major change – and we’re only halfway through. Whether you’ve been adapting to home working, learning a new skill, or embracing your natural hair, we’re all dealing with change. That can be challenging but there’s a sense that this moment is a portal to the
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Barriers to employment for people with different convictions

Unlock and Prison Reform Trust are investigating employers attitudes to people with different conviction types. We know that people with sexual offence or arson convictions find it more difficult to secure employment. While some convictions may make someone unsuitable for certain jobs, there are many more jobs where conviction type is irrelevant. We will work
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Unlock speaks to Radio Sussex about the findings of it’s new report and how some employers may potentially be breaking the law

Following the publication of Unlock’s  A question of fairness report, Co-director Christopher Stacey speaks to Radio Sussex’s Danny Pike. The report finds that the vast majority of national companies continue to have criminal record declarations as a core part of their initial job application forms. By doing so, employers are not only potentially acting unlawfully but are also missing
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Financial incentives to encourage employers

In our priorities for government, we highlight financial incentives as a key way that government can support business and encourage employers to recruit people leaving prison or on probation and people with unspent convictions. Many businesses are fearful of hiring people with a criminal record. 75% of companies admit to discriminating against applicants who declare
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What can’t you do with a criminal record? A life sentence?

We’ve contributed to an article in Prospect Magazine, which used the recent cases of Chris Huhne and Vicky Pryce as a way of looking at some of the longer-term effects of a criminal record. You can read the article here. There is also a list of interesting comments at the bottom of the article.
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Discrimination of young offenders from poor backgrounds

A new study published by the University of Portsmouth looks at the discrimination faced by young offenders from poor backgrounds. We discuss this in an interview on BBC London, which you can listen to below.
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CRB’s and second chances

As part of of the ongoing Court of Appeal case about CRB checks, we’ve written an article for thejusticegap.com. You can read the article here.
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Working prisoners

Christopher Stacey discusses on Radio Wales the issue of prisoners working both in and outside of prison. The interview can be listened to below.
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Prisoners launch High Court challenge to keep more of their wages

Prisoners who take jobs outside jail have launched a High Court challenge to keep a great share of their wages, claiming too much goes to victim support. We’re featured in the article as we’re supporting the case. Read the article here.
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Visit to Northern Ireland / NIACRO / Difficulties with employment interview

Today we’ve been hosted by NIACRO, which is a charity that helps people with convictions in Northern Ireland. They asked us to visit to speak to them about the work that we do, the issues that we face, and to speak to their service user group. While we were there, we also gave an interview
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