Industry Leaders in Fair Chance Hiring: Company Roundup (1/4)

This post is part of a four-part series featuring case studies of companies leading in fair chance hiring efforts. To be notified about future posts, follow our LinkedIn, and to read the full report, click here.  

FreeCap’s 2023 Criminal Justice Report features companies with the best fair chance hiring practices to help investors use their dollars to dismantle the prison industrial complex. In addition to helping reduce recidivism rates by providing formerly incarcerated folk with employment, hiring formerly incarcerated employees benefit companies themselves, as they often have less turnover and longer tenures than their counterparts.

You can read more about how we rate Fair Chance Hiring Practices and why it’s important that formerly incarcerated job candidates are treated equally in the hiring process here. 

Want to know what we found? Read on, download our full report, and stay tuned for our series featuring case studies of our top performing companies fair chance hiring in celebration of Second Chance Month this April! 

Top Rated Companies
Our ten top-rated companies have shown the most support for hiring justice-involved workers: 

These companies stand out when we look at the overall trends in fair chance hiring:  

• In 2021, less than one third of the S&P 100 made a public commitment to fair chance hiring for justice-involved applicants. In 2022, this statistic remained true, indicating companies’ stagnant process in their efforts to hire formerly incarcerated individuals.   

• Only seven of the 105 companies have developed programs to actively recruit formerly incarcerated workers. Less than half of the 105 conduct background checks on applicants after an offer of employment has been made.  

• Fair chance hiring progress in the S&P 100 remains stagnant, a fact that is detrimental to both justice-involved individuals and to the companies who are in need of loyal talent. 

Our series will highlight a few of our top performing companies when it comes to fair chance hiring, diving into the specific policies and programs these companies employ. Whether you are an investor, shareholder, or employee, we hope these insights shed light on best practices that companies can utilize to reduce mass incarceration, provide equal opportunity for all job seekers, and tap into a diverse, often overlooked, pool of talent.