Discrimination at work and criminal records: affirmative action and a case-study of the county of Apucarana - Paraná (Brazil)

Abstract

The Right to Work is listed as one of the many social rights of the Brazilian Federal Constitution of 1988. In other words, it is a fundamental social right that must be upheld by the State and all its citizens. Therefore, any form of workplace discrimination is prohibited by the Brazilian Constitution and infra-constitutional norms, as well as at the international level, specifically by the ILO Convention no. 111, in its pre-contractual, contractual or post-contractual form. The failure of the employer to hire individuals with criminal records offends the principle of equality, inhibiting the realization of their fundamental right to work, and constitutes an abuse of the employer's power, since it goes against the international and Brazilian legal system. Because it is a discriminatory practice, Brazil adopts affirmative actions in order to reduce this inequality, the main one being the “Projeto Começar de Novo” (Starting Again Project) of the National Council of Justice. One of the most fundamental pillars of Brazilian criminal system is the re-socialization of prison inmates with the use of specific public policies in order for them to enter the workforce. This paper sought to verify whether the practice of requiring the presentation of a Criminal Background Certificate, in fact, occurs, through the application of a questionnaire to those convicted in an open regime at the Municipal Patronage of Apucarana.