Join the Movement: Becoming Fair Chance Employers

Despite the increased awareness and efforts for diversity, equity, and inclusion (DE&I) in recruitment today, many companies still struggle to achieve truly diverse recruitment practices. Challenges such as unconscious bias, lack of access to diverse talent pools, and insufficient support for underrepresented groups have hindered the progress of many organizations in their quest for diversity in the workplace. Evidently, 38% of recruiters admitted that finding diverse candidates to interview is the biggest obstacle to improving diversity. [1] This is why, now more than ever, it is the right time for you to invest your time and effort to become fair-chance employers, regardless of the industry you operate in.

What Is Fair Chance Hiring?

Did you know that 37% of candidates expect to learn about a company’s DEI efforts? Becoming fair-chance employers can play a big role in attracting top talent. It can start right at the recruitment process with ‘fair-chance hiring.’

Fair chance hiring is an employment practice that aims to provide equal job opportunities to individuals with criminal records or disadvantaged and diverse backgrounds. The objective of fair chance hiring is to eliminate hiring barriers that often prevent these individuals from securing employment, despite their qualifications and abilities. It’s based on the principle that everyone deserves a fair chance to work and contribute to society, regardless of past mistakes. This approach involves policies and practices that minimize bias against these individuals during the hiring process, ensuring that their qualifications and skills are the primary focus, rather than their criminal history.

It could also be measures like ‘Ban the Box,’ which refers to removing the checkbox on job applications that asks if applicants have a criminal record. This allows candidates to be evaluated first on their qualifications. At the same time, it encourages employers to conduct background checks only after a conditional job offer has been made, ensuring that decisions are made based on relevant and current information.

How to Become Fair Chance Employers

1. Remove Biases

One of the most important keys to becoming a fair-chance recruiter is offering an opportunity to every candidate, regardless of their shape and size or where they come from. And in doing so, you need to eliminate recruitment biases that cloud your judgment.

Subconscious prejudices that arise during the hiring process include Confirmation Bias which involves seeking out information that confirms pre-existing beliefs or stereotypes about a candidate while dismissing any evidence that contradicts these beliefs, the Halo Effect that occurs when a recruiter forms a positive overall impression of a candidate based on limited information, such as their appearance or likability, the Implicit Bias—an unconscious attitudes or stereotypes that can influence decisions without the individual being aware of it, or Similarity Bias that occurs when a recruiter is more likely to favor candidates who are similar to themselves in terms of background, interests, or personality.

All of these biases can lead to negative impacts like:

• Limited Diversity: A lack of diversity within the organization, as certain groups of candidates may be disadvantaged or overlooked during the hiring process. This can limit your ability to innovate and adapt to a diverse marketplace.
• Decreased Employee Morale: Employees who feel that they were unfairly passed over for opportunities may be less engaged and motivated in their roles.
• Legal Risks: Discriminatory hiring practices based on biases can expose you to legal risks and potential lawsuits.
• Negative Reputation: Candidates who have experienced bias during the recruitment process may share their negative experiences with others, leading to a tarnished reputation in the industry.

Now, one effective solution is the use of blind recruitment techniques. This involves removing any identifying information from resumes, such as names, gender, or photos, to focus solely on the candidate's qualifications and experience. You can also implement structured interviews. Create a standardized set of questions for all candidates and assess their responses based on predetermined criteria. This ensures that all candidates are evaluated on the same basis, leading to fairer outcomes.

Aside from that, you can leverage a recruitment tool like the Applicant Tracking System (ATS) to minimize the biases and zero down on individuals who best fit the roles, based on skills and experiences, ensuring that candidates in all shapes and sizes are given an equal opportunity to showcase their abilities and be considered for the job.

An ATS like Manatal can support your fair-chance hiring process with its AI Recommendations feature. You can easily set up customizable criteria like educational background, skills, or experiences, and then, Manatal will quickly run through your database, add scorecards on candidates, and come up with a list of individuals who would be the perfect match for the job, regardless of their gender or ethnicity.

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2. Initiate Training Programs

Another thing that you can’t miss in fair-chance hiring is providing training programs for employees, especially those who may have faced barriers to employment in the past. These training programs can help them develop the skills and knowledge they need to succeed in their role and advance in their career. In doing so, you are giving all employees an equal chance to grow and succeed in the workplace.

Here are some examples of training programs for a fair-chance employer that you can look into:

Fair Chance Hiring Expert™ Course (FCHE™)

• This course provides certification for fair-chance hiring expertise
• It covers essential concepts and strategies for inclusive hiring practices
• You can complete the training on the job or remotely in a few hours [2]

Center for Employment Opportunities (CEO) Fair-Chance Hiring Guide & Toolkit

• This training offers an evidence-based program model for fair-chance hiring
• Including workforce readiness training, transitional employment, job coaching, and retention support [3]

Indeed’s Fair Chance Hiring Resources

• You can start your fair-chance employer journey with Indeed, as it provides information and resources on fair-chance hiring [4]

3. Spread the Fair Chance Employers Awareness with the Leadership

Consistency plays a big role in the effectiveness of your fair-chance hiring. It has to be spread out company wider from top to bottom. So, do share information and supported facts on why it’s important to encourage fair chance hiring with the stakeholders. Once everybody is on the same page, it won’t be difficult to initiate your campaign and proceed to the next steps.

4. Implement Inclusive Policies 

Review and revise your company policies to ensure they are inclusive and do not inadvertently discriminate against individuals with criminal records. You can start by reevaluating job descriptions, qualification requirements, and background check processes. Remember, policies should be transparent and communicated clearly to all applicants.

5. Engage with Community Organizations 

Partnering with community organizations that support reentry can help you tap into a pool of motivated candidates. These organizations can also provide additional support and resources for both the employer and the potential employees. So, engaging with these groups to demonstrate your commitment to community involvement and social responsibility.

Here are some US-based community organizations you should check out:

• American Red Cross [5]
• American Heart Association [6]
• United Way [7]
• Habitat for Humanity [8]

Fair Chance Hiring Laws in the US and EU

Fair chance hiring laws, commonly known as “Ban the Box” laws, are designed to offer individuals with criminal records a fair opportunity to be considered for employment. These laws vary significantly across the US and the EU, reflecting different legal frameworks and societal approaches to rehabilitation and employment.

United States

In the US, fair chance hiring laws have been widely adopted at various levels of government. Since 2021, 37 states and over 150 cities and counties have implemented policies to remove conviction and arrest history questions from job applications and delay background checks until later in the hiring process. This approach allows candidates to be evaluated on their qualifications first, without the stigma of a record.

Here are examples of fair-chance laws in the United States:

The Fair Chance to Compete for Jobs Act of 2019

• In December 2019, the Fair Chance to Compete for Jobs Act of 2019 became law as part of the National Defense Authorization Act.
• The law prohibits most federal agencies and contractors from requesting information on a job applicant’s arrest and conviction record until after conditionally offering the job to the applicant.
• Not only do fair-chance policies benefit people with records, but they also produce positive effects on families, local communities, and the overall economy. [9]

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act

• Under this act, employers are required not to rely on convictions and arrest records to make a hiring decision.
• They are also required to conduct individualized assessments to provide candidates the chance to demonstrate that they shouldn’t be excluded based on more complete information or specific circumstances.

California Fair Chance Act

• The act imposes that it’s against the law for organizations to ask applicants about their criminal background in their applications, job ads, or interviews before extending an offer.
• California companies are also required to complete an individualized assessment of a candidate’s conviction before making any official decisions.
• They are prohibited from considering arrests that didn’t follow any convictions and convictions that were sealed, dismissed, eradicated, or expunged. [10]

European Union

In contrast to the US, there are no EU-wide laws governing fair chance hiring.

• However, individual EU nations may have their own laws in place.
• For example, in Germany, which has strict data protection laws, employers need a candidate’s informed consent to conduct a criminal background check.

Case Studies of Fair Chance Employers

Before we wrap things up, let’s take a look at some real-life cases of fair-chance employers to inspire you.

1. Toyotetsu

In 2018, when the Japanese automotive parts supplier with a large US division was facing low unemployment, recruiting and retaining frontline workers became a huge challenge. The company embarked on its fair-chance employer journey and hired its first fair-chance job seeker. Said individual ended up outperforming other employees, pushing Toyotetsu’s leaders to expand its strategy to include fair-chance candidates in the hiring pipeline.

2. Nehemiah Manufacturing

The consumer goods manufacturer started out as a fair-chance employer right from day one. The company was founded with social impact as its main pillar. Its founder’s vision was to ‘develop a business in the inner city that could employ members of the surrounding community.’ Two years after the company operated, it was asked to hire an individual with a past felony charge. After being successfully hired with a fair-chance employer mindset, Nehemiah Manufacturing expanded its vision and sought out more employees with similar backgrounds.

3. JBM Packaging

The Ohio-based ecofriendly-packaging company’s hiring approach was to ‘humanize those with records.’ JBM Packaging took its employees on educational visits to correctional institutions and other companies that had hired fair-chance candidates. As part of its endeavor, the company’s leaders also encouraged employees to reflect on mistakes they had made and recognize similarities to fair-chance candidates. As a result, JBM Packaging ended up employing 109 fair-chance talent seven years later.

Conclusion

In the journey towards a more equitable and inclusive future, becoming a fair chance employer is not just a noble pursuit but a strategic imperative. It is a commitment to providing equal opportunity to all, regardless of background, gender, or ethnicity. Not only will you contribute to a more inclusive and equitable society, but you’ll also benefit from a more diverse and talented workforce.

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Citations:

1. LinkedIn

2. Fairchancealliance

3. ceoworks.org

4. Indeed

5. American Red Cross

6. American Heart Association

7. United Way

8. Habitat for Humanity

9. nelp.org

10. LinkedIn