We’ve discussed a few highly debated topics in hiring for companies, but this may be our hottest topic yet. Fair chance jobs are working their way into almost every industry today. So as more companies make the switch, understanding the benefits and best practices is more important than ever before. Top Applicant’s hiring experts are sharing everything employers need to know about fair chance hiring.
Understanding Fair Chance
Our hiring experts know our limits, so when it comes to HR law, it’s better to let our sources do the talking. The Office of Congressional Workplace Rights defines this act as follows:
“The Fair Chance to Compete for Jobs Act of 2019 (FCA), also known as the Federal “Ban the Box” law, prohibits Federal employers, including employing offices in the legislative branch, from requesting that applicants for most jobs disclose information on arrest and conviction history before a conditional job offer is extended to the applicant.”
This act has proven revolutionary in recidivism prevention and has other benefits that are part of nationwide ongoing studies. Hiring is never an exact science, but the results of these studies agree that formerly incarcerated persons deserve a place amongst the rest of the US workforce. There’s no denying the importance of fair chance jobs, but most employers should see it in action to understand the true benefits.
What It Does
In 2019, the FCA set a precedent for thousands of employers across the United States to rethink their hiring practices. There are currently more than 180 state, county, and local ban-the-box laws in effect, starting as early as 2014. These laws work to serve the 1 in 3 American adults with an arrest or conviction record.
Under Ban the Box laws, more people than ever have access to healthcare, jobs, and resources that help them stay on their feet and out of prison. Fair chance and felony-friendly jobs allow formerly incarcerated people to make ends meet, meet their parole requirements, and stay on the path to progress every day. However, switching your hiring processes isn’t something to take lightly. Here’s how our hiring experts built their successful hiring plan for fair chance jobs.
Build a Hiring Plan
It’s important to understand that this isn’t reinventing the wheel. However, there are a few intricacies to keep in mind to make your recruiting process successful and streamlined for applicants. To offer fair chance jobs, start by building your listing.
Listing for Fair Chance
There really is no difference between fair chance and non-fair chance hiring when it comes to job listings, and that’s the point! It can attract more applicants to your listing if you mention that your business is actively recruiting with the best fair chance practices in mind. You can add this to your company profile on Top Applicant or even in the job description. To get even more eyes on your open positions, we offer paid listings as well.
Interview
Here is where it is very important to mind your Ps and Qs. The most important rule of fair chance hiring is to avoid direct questions. If the potential employee offers information about their arrest record voluntarily, you must refer to it with the same decorum as you refer to their work history. There are many dos and don’ts surrounding interviews and fair chance jobs. So keep these don’ts in mind as you prepare for an interview:
- Don’t include questions about arrests or convictions on your applications.
- Don’t ask about criminal convictions before sending a conditional offer of employment.
Our platform prioritizes clear and honest communication. So if an applicant willingly tells you about their convictions on video or explains a gap in their employment history, keeping an open mind is important. When hiring for fair chance jobs, there are additional best practices our hiring managers use to assess applications fairly.
Assessment
Hiring the right employees is tricky for anyone. Whether you hire employees under fair chance laws or not, looking at every resume and cover letter objectively and professionally is important. Since we’ve gone over what not to do in your interview, let’s take a look at what you should do when making your final hiring decision for fair chance jobs.
- Do your due diligence and vet every applicant equally.
- Do send a pre-adverse action notice that makes it clear you are denying them employment with at least 5 days notice to challenge your decision or present mitigating evidence. You also will need to provide them a copy of their rights with your final adverse action notice after those 5 days.
- Do maintain contact with applicants to submit your conditional offer of employment quickly and efficiently.
Thinking Outside the Box
Fair chance jobs are competitive, healing, and in high demand. When you consider applicants for your next opening, Top Applicant makes it easy to find the right people for your position. Here are 3 ways our platform is paving the way forward for equal opportunity:
Real Resumes
You’ll never have to search too far for an applicant’s resume, cover letter, and other materials your HR team will need to make an informed decision. We also include a matchmaking tool that effortlessly matches qualified candidates with your listing, even if they haven’t searched for it. Our resumes paint a professional picture for every person behind the application.
Real Stories
Sometimes talking about the elephant in the room is better than typing about it. That’s why Top Applicant added video hosting capabilities to our resumes. Every applicant on our platform can share their story in a short video on YouTube or Vimeo and link it directly to their resume.
Really Powerful
Our applicants aren’t the only ones with cool tools to build the future! We also include analytics for every business profile to see where and how your jobs are attracting applicants. Track new and repeat views, and see who is looking at your jobs to find the right fit for your next opening. Over time, you can see monthly views as you build your recruitment strategy to be fair chance-friendly.
Putting the Human in Human Resources
The most important resource your company uses every day is who you trust to get the job done. So in a world where companies are using robots to hire people, our platform dares to take a different approach. Our tools are built to make communication easy and effective for everyone involved in modern hiring. So put the human element back into your HR department. Build your profile and start posting jobs for free with Top Applicant!
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