Earlier this week it was reported that Apple had put a policy in place that would have prevented the company from hiring people who been convicted of felonies within the past seven years to aid in the construction of its new headquarters.
According to the original report, fewer than five people had actually been denied jobs because of their criminal backgrounds. Even so, union leaders sent letters to CEO Tim Cook at the beginning of the year asking for the policy to be lifted, but to no avail.
After drawing fire from unions and workers, Apple today reversed that decision and announced that it will hire those workers who were recently convicted of felonies.
According to the San Jose Mercury News, a spokesman from Apple said that the policy “may have excluded some people who deserve a second chance.” Apple has now instructed its contracting partners to consider each applicant on a case-by-case basis and not make a judgement solely based on criminal history.
At least one union was considering taking legal action against Apple over the policy, though whether that’s still the plan hasn’t been revealed yet.
You can follow the progress on Apple’s new campus through 9to5Mac’s regular updates and drone flyover videos.
FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.
OMG. Terrible! :(
F*ck da police! Comin’ straight from da underground!
You must be a suburban house mom/dad/person. Gated community?
Have fun in you’re little world.
I think it’s a shame Apple had this policy in the first place. First policy I’ve seen under the new regime that makes little sense; although, most of the people making the decisions probably live in gated communities too soo… I just hoped they would be more informed and less biased.
7 years is a decent enough window for a second chance for a convicted felon, sorry. There was nothing wrong with their policy and it was just good business, security and safety sense, protecting schedules, property and other contracted workers.
What you say sounds logical but there are so many individuals who have been convicted of felony offenses that have nothing to do with your concerns. For example, in most states lying on a drivers license application is a felony. Most commonly a driver license applicant will falsely state he has no arrest for DWI in another state. Now, that applicant might be a problem on the road but he is no problem on a construction site.
Unless hes operating the forklift lolz
It depends on the person. Some I would consider hiring, some I wouldn’t. And what’s with the 7 years. Some only went to jail for less than a year or less than 7 years. It all depends on the person, some went to jail for stupid stuff like drug possession, but have since cleaned up.. Some have gone to jail for much worse offenses that I might be little more concerned about. Plus, some have an education and a skill and some don’t.
Thank you Apple for this change.
It’s already hard enough for felons to get any kind of real job, the correctional system is fucked. If you have no sympathy for that then you are simply uninformed or have no humanity. What are their job options? Not many. In many cases they are forced to go back to crime to provide and stay alive. The types of jobs they can get is very limited, hard to get in to in some cases, and pay dirt.
The real problem is a system, owned by big corporations, that profit off of having more people in prison and are incentivised to keep felons coming back.
Educate yourselves people.
Good call, Apple.
It seems that in the name of being “tough on crime”, we have foreclosed any possibility of ex-offenders re-integrating themselves into society.
Can’t vote, can’t get a legit job – how, exactly, do we expect these people to survive without going back into crime?
Obviously, corporations need to consider the nature and number of the crimes at issue. They need to ensure the safety of their other employees first and foremost. But corporations should be applauded when they take this step – and maybe even incentivized to do so.
Wow. I can’t believe that you cannot vote in the US while incarcerated, on parole or probation cannot vote. Some states don’t even allow you to vote for the rest of your life once convicted!
In Canada every prisoner has the right to vote. Being a convict should – and does – nothing to diminish your rights as a citizen.
I work at a hospital. Any crime that harms or takes advantage of the elderly or children, that you are convicted of whether or not a felony, whether or not it is within the last seven years – you can never work at a hospital again.
Now, based upon the fact that a construction worker will have little opportunity to harm these vulnerable populations, such as children or geriatrics, or anyone for that matter – I think there is no need for such a ban. I believe this, while still upholding the policy at my own workplace.