Employment

[JEPHNEY]

Our organisation is called Changeable Development Centre, situated in Fordsburg in the city of Johannesburg, We are Non- Profit Organisation which is registered with the Department of Social Services {REG NO: 063-689}

Our main aim is to make ex-convict to accept their status and to rebuilt trust in community and provide shelter for the ex-convict who are release in jail after serving their long sentences


This will be easy if we receive donation/sponsor from you or your company to show these offenders that there is life after prisons and also educate the community to respect the offenders or ex-convict. Both the community and offenders will motivate each other to see the future by forgiveness. We will be taking a responsibility to ensure that offenders and ex-offenders receive the basic skills, employment and motivation of hope to ensure that complete rehabitilation has been reached.However it will not be easy without any donors and sponsorship.

For them to change able, we humbly appealing to your company to assist us,particularly in terms of computer and financial.etc for offenders and ex-offenders who inside and outside prisons

For more information please call me
Thanks

SJ NGOBENI
0760899406
mr.makeit@workmail.co.za

[daveob]

this would depend on the crime and the position being applied for.

How can we hope to rehabilitate and reduce crime if we don't try and support ?

On the other hand, I'm not letting any violent or sex offender into my house to look after my kids -- so it's a case of horses for courses.

[JEPHNEY]

PEOPLE CHANGE , THAT IS WHY THEY GO TO JAIL TO BE REHABILATED AND BE RESPECTED IN THE SOCIETY.HOW WOULD YOU FEEL IF AN EX-CONVICT STEAL FOR YOU, SO THEY CAN RETURN BACK TO PRISON BUT IF YOU WOULD HAVE HELPED HIM IN EMPLOYMENT THIS WOULD NOT HAVE HAPPEN . PLEASE FORUM LESS GIVE THEM A CHANCE TO SOW US THAT THEY HAVE CHANGED FOR THE BETTER OR DISCRIMINATE.

[daveob]

and you are SHOUTING because :

a .. someone has a different opinion to yours ?
b .. you think that the louder you get, the more I will listen and change to your opinion ?
c .. you don't understand that typing everything in CAPITALS is considered rude ?

On a more serious note :
As I said before, we should try to support in an effort to encourage rehabilitation, but there are limits - and each person will determine the amount of risk they are willing to take in this regard.

So we might end up with the crooked accountant looking after the kids, the rapist working in the despatch department and the armed robber working in security. The drug dealer would not be suitable for employment in stock control at the pharmaceutical company, and any convicted lawyers who have served time should be sent to the south pole in their underwear.

But I do admire the work you are proposing to do and wish you every success.

[Dave A]

I see post 1 has expanded somewhat. Originally it was a simple question:

would you hire people who have been convicted of crimes.

And I'd bookmarked the thread to reply to later when I had time to give the question justice.

It's a good question and it seems obvious the answer is going to be "not easily" in most cases - hence the need for Jephney's organisation.

In my instance, we are pretty sensitive to the issue of theft. Our staff are working in our client's premises and we can't tolerate theft at any level. We've dismissed staff for the slightest problem in this regard, and this culture means we don't have a problem with petty theft from clients. Right from the outset it is made plain, theft will cost you your job. And we put it in perspective - what is you annual salary? If you really want a penknife/watch/whatever, it's probably cheaper to buy it legitimately.

Now despite what might seem a pretty hard-assed attitude to this, we have had instances where we hired people with criminal records. Two stand out in my mind.

The first was an employee who was convicted of manslaughter - basically he went one blow too far in defending his pay packet which two thieves were trying to steal from him. When he got out of jail we rehired him without hesitation and he continued to work for us without a problem for years.

The second was a person who had got into trouble about drugs in his youth. After the interview, I was prepared to at least give him a chance to stay clean. He was employed under a clear understanding that the slightest hint of a problem and he was out. He ended up working for us for about a year and we never had any problems. That was quite a few years ago now, but funnily enough he called me out of the blue two weeks ago to tell me where he was working now and how well things were going for him. A true recovery story.

Looking wider, some sectors just don't have the option. As far as I know, in the security industry you are not allowed to hire someone with a criminal record. It's statutory - period.

But I've got a question for Jephney - surely this sort of support should fall to the Department of Correctional Services? If the goal is to reform the criminal you can't just chuck them out the gate once they've done their time and expect them to keep on the straight and narrow without help.

Shouldn't gov have an ex-convict assistance program?

PS. I hope you get that CAPS LOCK problem fixed soon

[JEPHNEY]

REPLY

I understand you comment guys, but we busy with the correctiona services in this regard, before they receive employment this guys will be trained according to our standard, and to place this guys is not a big problem in this regards because of equal opportunities of the constitution.

[Dave A]

Jephney - there's a problem with your email. Please use the contact us link below to clear up the problem with me.

Thanks.