A tight labor market is like a game of musical chairs. As employees hop from one job to the next, employers try to catch their attention. Sometimes, it can seem like a never-ending cycle, with shortened job tenures matching short attention spans.
One way employers can break the cycle is to consider broadening the talent pool to include individuals with criminal records by implementing a Fair Chance Hiring strategy. Why? It taps a large pool of talented, dependable, and high-performing workers who tend to stay at a job longer than average.
Understand fair chance hiring
Fair chance hiring promotes the idea that all quality job candidates deserve consideration for a job, regardless of criminal histories. This idea recognizes the potential and skills of all job seekers and removes barriers to employment. Yet, many employers remain leery, due to common misconceptions about people with criminal records.
That’s one reason why the unemployment rate for formerly incarcerated people is over 27%, according to the Prison Policy Initiative. The size of the affected population is significant. The Sentencing Project puts the number affected at between 70 and 100 million people, or approximately one in three Americans. Data from a new Indeed study corroborates this figure, with 30% of respondents saying they have a criminal record.
Even minor legal infractions can affect someone’s ability to get hired. What’s more, communities of color and the LGBTQ+ community are disproportionately affected, creating barriers to economic security and mobility for these often underserved and vulnerable populations.
Break down misconceptions
Let’s break down some of the misconceptions about fair chance hiring. First, there is a misperception that workers with criminal records don’t measure up to peers without criminal records. In reality, research by SHRM shows that HR professionals overwhelmingly disagree with that notion, with 81% of them saying that workers with criminal records were comparable or better quality than those without.
Another common concern is quality of work or skill gaps. The same SHRM research report shows that 85% of HR professionals believe that workers with criminal records actually perform “as good or better than” on the job as those without. Additionally, 81% of HR professionals surveyed by SHRM said the cost per hire was the same or less than the cost to hire an individual who doesn’t have a record.
Employers may also worry about the comfort level of other employees with fair chance hiring. A new Indeed study showed most employees are comfortable working alongside coworkers with a criminal record. In fact, survey respondents overwhelmingly (92%) said they would be comfortable working alongside a coworker who had a nonviolent criminal record with a single, isolated incident. At the lowest level, 54% would be comfortable working alongside someone with a violent criminal record.
Promote a DEI-friendly policy
Not only are many employees unconcerned about the criminal records of coworkers, but many also view fair chance hiring as indicative of a company’s dedication to diversity and inclusion. Nearly three-quarters (72%) of our survey respondents said they felt that a company that does not offer fair chance hiring is not truly diverse and inclusive.
With many companies focusing on DEI efforts, fair chance hiring has a role to play. There’s a lot of room for improvement with some employers disqualifying applicants based on past criminal records before the interview process even begins. Think about how far an employer can move the needle on DEI by simply eliminating any questions about criminal records in the early stages of the job application process.
In fact, with so much evidence consistently showing how racial discrimination is embedded in the U.S. legal system, I would argue that a company’s diversity and inclusion efforts really can’t make a true difference without fair chance hiring opportunities.
Consider the benefits of fair chance hiring
Fair chance hiring offers additional benefits beyond giving employers a leg up in a tight job market. Also, recent data indicate interesting trends regarding employee retention. A 2018 academic study of call-center employees showed that those with criminal records had a much longer tenure and were less likely to leave their jobs voluntarily.
Adopting fair chance hiring is popular with employees as well. Our study of employees showed that only 33% of their employers currently offer employment to job seekers with a criminal record. However, 73% of employees say they would prefer to work for a company with fair chance hiring practices.
Get started
How can employers attract, retain and hire candidates with a criminal record? Here are a few tips:
Highlight your company’s commitment to fair chance hiring for job seekers: Evaluate the language used in job descriptions to ensure they convey a commitment to hiring people with criminal records. By including language around your fair chance hiring practices in job descriptions, job seekers can easily search for you by adding “fair chance” to the search bar.
Remove questions about criminal records from job application forms: Ensure your company is up-to-date with Ban the Box laws. To date, 37 states, Washington, D.C., and more than 150 cities and counties have adopted policies that eliminate criminal record questions from job applications.
Set all workers up for success: Offer time off so that people with previous convictions can check in with probation or parole officers, attend support groups for people with past convictions, or pursue leadership development opportunities.
Address the labor shortage
Can fair chance hiring help address the current labor shortage? The answer is an unequivocal yes. A large pool of untapped talent awaits employers that currently filter out applicants with criminal records by including a check box asking about criminal records on a job application.
These employees can positively affect employers’ retention rates and overall business performance. Making fair chance hiring an integral part of a talent philosophy is essential to creating thriving, inclusive workforces.
Employing individuals with criminal records remains an important public priority that goes beyond benefitting individual companies. Without such employment opportunities, recidivism is almost inevitable. That comes at a high cost to individuals and the community at large. I think we can all agree that getting more people to work is good for everyone.
LaFawn Davis is the SVP of ESG at Indeed.
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