Industry Leaders in Fair Chance Hiring: JP Morgan Chase & Co. (2/4)
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.
Fair chance hiring reduces recidivism rates and helps businesses improve their bottom line. In celebration of Second Chance Month this April, FreeCap Financial is highlighting case studies of companies leading in their hiring of formerly incarcerated individuals on our blog and in our 2023 Criminal Justice Report.
This week, we’re highlighting JP Morgan Chase & Co. for their robust support for fair chance hiring practices. Here’s why we consider JP Morgan Chase & Co. to be an industry leader in their support for the hiring of individuals with conviction histories:
Commitment to Fair Chance Hiring: A founding member of the Second Chance Business Coalition, JP Morgan Chase has hired 4,600+ individuals with criminal histories as of 2022. Additionally, 10% of new hires annually have previous convictions. The company has eliminated questions about criminal history on all job applications since 2018, and background checks are not conducted until after a conditional offer of employment is made (a best practice that less than half of the companies in our dataset employ).
Advancing Job Opportunities: Working with community partners, JP Morgan Chase creates recruiting channels for justice-involved individuals in addition to sharing fair chance hiring best practices with financial institutions and businesses. They also support state and local initiatives to provide entrepreneurship and business training programs for individuals with conviction histories. Finally, they’ve invested more than $7 million to help community organizations in cities provide support to people with conviction histories in their job search and in meeting financial goals.
Support for Record-Expunging Legislation: JP Morgan Chase supports legislation on the state and federal level that creates opportunities for people with arrests or convictions to expunge their records. More specifically, they support automatic record cleaning being enacted on the state and local levels. They also backed the Clean Slate Act, introduced in the House of Representatives, to allow for the automatic sealing of certain nonviolent arrest or conviction records one year after an individual has met the requirements set by the justice system.
CEO Support: Jamie Dimon, CEO of JP Morgan Chase, has publicly supported fair chance hiring in opinion pieces for the New York Times and CNN. He is also the co-chair of the Second Chance Business Coalition.
What can you do to support Fair Chance Hiring?
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 a fair chance for all job seekers, and tap into a diverse, often overlooked, pool of talent. To learn more about how you can minimize your criminal justice footprint and shape your investments to be more fair chance hiring-friendly, check out our data subscription offerings or contact us.
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Sources:
Giving People with Criminal Backgrounds a Second Chance, JP Morgan Chase & Co. Policy Center
A Second Chance at Opportunity, JP Morgan Chase & Co.
JPMorgan Chase giving 2nd chance to those with criminal background, The Columbus Dispatch
Removing Barriers to Employment through Automatic Record Clearing, JP Morgan Chase & Co. Policy Center
