ASA is an inaugural signatory of the “Getting Talent Back to Work” pledge—part of an effort led by the Society for Human Resource Management to help provide employment opportunities to qualified people with criminal backgrounds. The pledge follows congressional passage of bipartisan criminal justice reform, the “First Step Act,” in December 2018.

To assist companies making the pledge, SHRM developed the Getting Talent Back to Work Tool Kit, which is designed to help businesses apply evidence-based best practices for hiring applicants with a criminal background, understand the legal factors involved, and get practical guidance from industry leaders on recruiting this diverse group of people. ASA member companies are encouraged to join ASA in signing the pledge.

Staffing companies—particularly small businesses and minority-, veteran-, LGBT-, and woman-owned businesses—find they may be able to partner with larger companies that have supplier diversity initiatives in place.

The ASA inclusion, diversity, and equity advocacy (IDEA) group has developed guidance for ASA members interested in partnering with those companies or in becoming a diverse-owned certified business. The ASA IDEA group is sponsored by ASA corporate partner Monster and by Anthem, along with supporting sponsors TerraFirma and WorkN.

Visit americanstaffing.net/diversity for a directory of diversity certification organizations, a glossary of common terms, and more.