Employers are often unwilling to hire someone convicted of a crime. That's a problem — and it needs to change.

By Governor Andrew M. Cuomo and Jostein Solheim, CEO of Ben & Jerry’s

Employers can often be hesitant to hire someone with a criminal conviction. Unsubstantiated rumors of increased violence in the workplace, theft, or incompetence often stand in the way of giving someone with a record a chance. Yet employers that do hire formerly incarcerated individuals end up reaping the benefits: loyal employees with higher retention rates, tax benefits, and increased economic mobility for their staff.

70 million Americans have a criminal record—that’s 1 in 3 adults. There are currently 2.3 million people behind bars in this country, 95 percent of whom will reenter our communities. 640,000 people are released from prison each year, creating a huge untapped workforce available to fill jobs. Yet, in New York State, 53 percent of people on parole have yet to find a job. Employers are often uncomfortable hiring people who have been convicted of a crime—one study found that, in New York City, a criminal record reduced the likelihood of a callback or job offer by nearly 50 percent.

This is a problem. Joblessness is the number one predictor of recidivism—the less likely it is for a formerly incarcerated person to find a job, the more likely it is that they end up back in prison, with all the costs associated with incarceration, including a price tag of $60,000 per inmate per year in New York. These barriers to reentry have a negative trickle effect not only on the lives of these individuals, preventing them from providing for themselves and their families, but on society as a whole. Studies have shown that excluding formerly incarcerated individuals from the workforce results in a GDP loss of $78-87 billion thanks to lost tax revenue, and that if states can reduce recidivism rates by just 10 percent, they could save an average of $635 million annually.

That’s why my administration has launched the Work for Success Pledge—an online pledge in which companies, like Ben and Jerry’s or VICE Media, whose VICE Apprenticeship Program hires and trains formerly incarcerated people for production, editorial and creative jobs at the company, commit to consider hiring qualified candidates with criminal convictions. New York is the first state in the nation to develop such a pledge. So far, 80 companies have signed on and shown their commitment to hiring those with a criminal conviction—but we need more to pledge their support! It just makes good business sense.

Companies like Ben & Jerry’s recognize that hiring formerly incarcerated individuals and working with suppliers that do the same is important for our business, our culture, and our bottom line. Studies have shown that those with a criminal conviction can often make the best employees—they are retained at higher rates than those with no criminal record, saving companies costs associated with hiring and training, which can be as much as $4,000 per employee. Additionally, companies that hire people with criminal convictions are eligible for the Work Opportunity Tax Credit (WOTC), which provides a maximum tax credit of $2,400 per employee.

Formerly incarcerated individuals are often the most motivated at work. A study of army enlistees found that enlistees with felony records were 33 percent more likely to be promoted to sergeant than those with no conviction history, a testament to their dedication and motivation.

Ben & Jerry’s is incredibly proud of our long relationship with the Greyston Bakery in Yonkers. It was Ben who heard about the bakery and came up with one of our most successful flavors, Chocolate Fudge Brownie, specifically to allow our company to work with and expand the impact of the baker which, through its open hiring process, has helped thousands of returning citizens and their families rebuild their lives and their dignity. It is in part because of our long relationship with the Greyston Bakery that we’ve made changes to our hiring and recruiting process so that people are judged by their skill and qualifications, not the mistakes of the past. There is no doubt, with 1 in 3 Americans having been convicted of a crime, if we were to use criminal conviction as screen for recruiting, we would be leaving very qualified candidates out of our process. That’s just a bad business decision.

Across New York, the Cuomo administration has long been dedicated to providing employment for those with criminal convictions. In 2012, we launched the Work for Success Program, which matches qualified and appropriately trained job applicants with criminal convictions to open job listings. In the last five years, we have placed more than 18,000 people in jobs, and each new company that signs on to our Work for Success Pledge also commits to listing job openings with the program.

In 2015, the Council on Community Reentry and Reintegration took further steps to ensure equity in hiring by setting uniform guidelines that evaluate qualified applicants for state occupational licenses and adopting “fair chance hiring” for New York State agencies, meaning agencies will not ask about a job applicant’s criminal convictions until and unless the agency has interviewed the candidate and is interested in hiring him or her. As a result of Reentry Council efforts in 2016, New York is also the first in the nation to prohibit insurance companies from denying insurance coverage to businesses that hire people with criminal convictions.

These are small steps that can make a huge difference. Together, by signing the Work for Success Pledge, businesses have a real opportunity to not only provide a helping hand to those who have been cut off from opportunities, but to also improve our bottom line. New York State is dedicated to creating a true “state of opportunity” for everyone.