Dawson was speaking on the first anniversary of the Business in the Community (BITC) Ban the Box campaign, which urges firms to remove the question about candidates’ criminal records from their initial application forms.
She told HR magazine Carillion is committed to those who have “had a troubled path” in life.
“Businesses can benefit from this,” she said. “It increases diversity, widens the talent pool and for us it makes people look at us and think ‘I wonder if that company would employ me’.”
Figures revealed by BITC for the Ban the Box anniversary show that one-in-five current jobseekers has some form of criminal conviction. In the past year 25 private companies have agreed to ban the box, while figures from BITC estimate that if just 5% of private companies follow suit it would make one million roles accessible to those with a criminal record.
Dawson encouraged those thinking of doing so to “be brave”.
“This isn’t about abandoning assessment of people or taking unnecessary risks. We do check and we do talk to people but not until we’ve understood what they can bring. It’s part of a wider diversity agenda for us.”
