February 2022 Summaries

The government plays a crucial role in fair chance hiring practices through various laws and regulations that aim to level the playing field for formerly incarcerated individuals. These measures include the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission's Enforcement Guidance, President Obama's directive to delay inquiries into job applicants' records, and laws such as the "Fair Chance to Compete for Jobs Act of 2019" which prohibits most federal agencies and contractors from requesting information on a candidate's arrest and conviction record until after the job offer. Additionally, many states have adopted "ban the box" policies, removing the check box on applications that ask about prior convictions, while others have mandated the removal of conviction history questions from job applications for private employers. Employers can also implement fair chance hiring practices through systematic changes to their hiring and employment policies, such as avoiding stigmatizing language in job descriptions, including equal opportunity statements, working with sourcing partners, skills-based interviewing, and conducting background checks in a fair manner. By taking these steps, organizations can expand talent pools while giving candidates a fair chance at a career. It's essential for employers to work closely with their legal counsel to ensure compliance with local, state, and federal fair chance policies and to implement phased approaches to implementing fair chance practices.

The text highlights the importance of understanding employee attitudes towards fair chance hiring, a practice that involves considering an applicant's criminal history in the hiring process. Despite 83% of executives believing their company has created an unbiased hiring process, research found that three-quarters of them have researched candidates online to learn more about their background, and most say this research impacted their hiring decision. Unconscious biases against those with conviction history are a significant problem, contributing to institutional prejudice and perpetuating injustice. To combat bias, companies can educate internally about the benefits of fair chance hiring, audit and improve their adjudication framework, and consider using tools like Checkr Assess to create more inclusive hiring processes. With 87% of employees believing employers should offer jobs to candidates with dismissed convictions, companies have the power to expand on regulations to open their hiring pools to fair chance candidates.

Growing HR teams face numerous challenges, including recruiting, hiring, onboarding, and managing employee data. Freshteam, an all-in-one HR solution, aims to simplify these tasks through automation and efficiency tools. Checkr has partnered with Freshteam to offer an affordable and intuitive background check solution, allowing HR directors and managers to recruit, background check, and onboard employees from a single dashboard. This integration eliminates lag times between candidate offers and background check invitations, improving the candidate experience and giving organizations a competitive edge in today's hiring market.

In today's competitive labor market, small- and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) are struggling to hire qualified candidates due to the Great Resignation and rising inflation, with 70-80% of SMBs experiencing revenue falls between 30 and 50%. Many SMBs have had to lay off employees and cut back on operations, leading some former self-employed individuals to return to traditional employment. To build back their workforces, SMBs are investing in benefits such as flexible work schedules, childcare benefits, and raises in salaries to attract and retain talent. However, this alone may not be enough, and many SMBs are overlooking the potential of fair chance hiring practices to widen their talent pool by delaying consideration of conviction history until the end of the application process. By adopting fair chance hiring, SMBs can benefit from retaining qualified candidates with great retention and promotion rates, while also contributing to society by breaking the cycle of recidivism.

Checkr has acquired ModoHR, a Canadian-based background check company, expanding its global footprint and capabilities in Canada. The acquisition brings ModoHR's ScreeningCanada platform to Checkr, enhancing the offering with scalable and compliant solutions for accurate background checks. This expansion allows Checkr clients greater access to Canadian background check data while preserving privacy and security. The deal strengthens Checkr's position as an industry leader and enables ModoHR clients to tap into a unified platform with increased resources and integrations. The combined company is poised to offer more technology innovation and access to background checking services throughout North America and globally.