Freshfields to Eradicate Criminal Record Box on Applications

The Magic Circle law firm Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer has announced it will remove the requirement for applicants to state whether they have criminal records on initial application forms, as reported in the Law Society Gazette.

Whenever you apply for any legal position you will currently take it as a given to have to state whether you hold a criminal record and provide the necessary details.

Freshfields’ decision to ask for this information only after a job offer has been made comes as support for the Ban the Box campaign – an initiative set up by the charity Business In The Community (BITC). Any details of a criminal record submitted after the job offer will be considered on an individual basis.

The BITC reports that around three-quarters of employers admit to discriminating against applicants who hold criminal records. The idea of the campaign is to aid rehabilitation in the community by promoting measures to reduce discrimination.

Catherine Sermon, director of the BITC, has described the move as “pioneering”. She said: “We hope that it inspires other firms that they too can change their application process.”

Philip Richards, partner at Freshfields, said: ‘”The Ban The Box campaign is an excellent initiative that highlights the major role businesses can play in helping ex-offenders back into work, away from homelessness and from adding to reoffending rates.”

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