Edythe Hatter-Williams, CEO, CAMW! Capital Area Michigan Works! stops by the Michigan Business Network to review the Fidelity Bonding Program.    

In this conversation with Jeffrey Mosher she covers what is the Fidelity Bonding Program is:To hear their conversation, click play on the embedded PodCast shared below.

The Fidelity Bonding Program is sponsored by the state of Michigan’s Talent Investment Agency. It provides a business insurance policy from the Traveler's Casualty and Surety Company of America. The bond protects an employer against acts of theft, larceny, forgery and embezzlement committed by a bonded employee. A bonded employee is someone who has been convicted and served their time. Fidelity bonds provide 100 percent insurance coverage and have no deductible; so, the employer is fully protected against losses resulting from employee dishonesty. To participate in this program, the employer must offer 30 hours or more per week of full-time employment for six consecutive months with the stipulation that the high-risk job seeker needs to be bonded.

How does CAMW! play a role in it? Capital Area Michigan Works! helps support this program through our partnership at the American Job Centers. Through our partnership and this program, we give employers peace of mind to safely provide job opportunities to all people, with limited 
risk to the employer. The program was created to assist high-risk, but qualified, job seekers who have employment offers. 

How does this program not only support the job-seeker, but the employer? This program gives employers an awareness of great candidates who just happen to be returning citizens, and the local support  employers need when looking to hire returning citizens. When you put all 
our citizens to work, they have the opportunity to become productive members of society. Only when all our workforce is able to work and have that opportunity, regardless of their past, can we truly begin to address the skills gaps and worker shortages we’re facing as a region, state and nation. 

What was the goal of the Offenders Success Employer Breakfast? The City of Lansing's Offender Success Employer Breakfast hosted by Lansing Mayor Andy Schor in March was a way to talk to employers about giving people who’ve served time second chances. Genell Dorty, our Capital Area Michigan Works! talent team leader, participated on a panel to speak about the Fidelity Bonding Program and how it can help people who’ve served time get hired after they have completed their sentence.