I think the point is to encourage companies to go through the initial assessment of a potential employee in the hopes that they will find the candidate to be th

I think the point is to encourage companies to go through the initial assessment of a potential employee in the hopes that they will find the candidate to be the best option, and then have to actively choose not to employ the person because of a prior conviction. In addition, they will have to evaluate (and it sounds like document) whether they feel the conviction would impact the candidate's ability to perform that specific job for that specific company. Today, many employers have a blanket "no convicts" check-box on their application forms. This makes it very hard for convicts to find work. Yes, many companies will continue to have this practice, and some for very good reason, but this creates the potential for a little more sanity to be applied.