Companies That Hire Felons

Looking for employment as a convicted felon can be a daunting task. But the biggest difference-maker is if employers can recover staffing-agency fees they pay to find workers who don't stick with the job, or get the agencies to find them a replacement worker for free if they take a chance on an ex-offender who doesn't work out.

As a partnership between various social service agencies and the City of Chicago, the program offers full-time work and apprenticeship opportunities jobs for Felons to ex-cons who are willing to take on positions that involve servicing buses or rail cars for the Chicago Transit Authority.

The new guidance didn't change the core idea—that blanket hiring bans based on criminal records have a disproportionate impact on black and Latino workers and thus violate the Civil Rights Act; instead, it offered employers updated details on how to stay on the right side of the law.

Many ex-felons could have changed for the better if only they were given a good opportunity to do so. Nevertheless, even though the law protects ex-felons for fair treatment to job opportunities, jobs remain difficult to come by. The instability of our economy coupled with the increasing competitiveness of other job seekers just makes matter worse.

In general, those with criminal records make good employees, according to Maurice Emsellem, Fair Chance Program director at the National Employment Law Project , a non-partisan, not-for-profit organization that conducts research and advocates on issues affecting low-wage and unemployed workers.

For me, the connections are in thinking about the criminal justice system as an increasingly important mechanism for generating racial inequality in the labor market,” says sociologist Devah Pager, whose 2003 study was the first to add criminal records to the mix when testing hiring discrimination.

While this career choice does require a vocational certification or an associate's degree, you can start out at making $8.76 and eventually work your way up to $14.38. If you really want to step up your game, you could even offer a mobile service where you visit your clients at their home or workplace.

Though at first thought, it's easy to empathize with employers who immediately discard anyone with a criminal record or run-in with the law, it's become a serious and spreading problem for people who are simply trying to get back into the workforce. For such jobs, felons need to complete a few formalities.

It's a good idea to view any list of companies that hire convicted felons with an open mind but also a skeptical eye. We are working on expanding our Felons Get Hired job board. Felons may have difficulty finding a job, renting an apartment or getting higher education.