Popular Government

The impact of a conviction on employment, the focus of this article, derives from two specialized areas of law: criminal law and employment law. In deciding how to proceed, people who face criminal charges should understand the potential impact of their decision in both the criminal case and the job market. In dealing with employees and job applicants, employers need to understand the nature of criminal proceedings and their effects. And those concerned with criminal justice issues must consider the impact of employment barriers on recidivism. This article considers the impact of a criminal conviction on different types of employment, the ramifications of a conviction on related matters such as unemployment benefits, and the types of criminal justice determinations that can trigger these consequences.

The concept of multirater assessment is fairly straightforward. Employees assess themselves on a number of dimensions and hear from other members of the organization as well—superiors, peers, and subordinates (if the person being rated supervises others). A “full” 360-degree assessment also involves an employee’s customers. Despite the growing popularity of 360-degree feedback, there are still many questions about its use as a tool to improve individual performances in organizations. This article summarizes the current research on multirater assessment to help answer these questions. The report on pages 42 through 45, “Using 360-Degree Feedback in Performance Appraisal,” describes the process as used by one North Carolina local government, Mecklenburg County’s Engineering and Building Standards Department.