Employer Tax Credits

Hiring Ex-Offenders is Good Business
• Evaluating a Criminal Record
• Ex-Offender Hiring Resources

Workforce Training Initiatives
• Baltimore Alliance for Careers in Healthcare (BACH)
• Pre-Apprenticeship Program in Building and Construction

Employer Engagement

The JOTF Employer Engagement program works with the business community to assure that workforce programs respond to the needs of employers and strengthen the economic vitality of the region. In partnership with employers, community-based organizations, and public agencies, we develop programs and polices that address the employment needs of businesses and the workforce.

JOTF researches and disseminates effective hiring, training, and retention strategies; advice for hiring and retaining nontraditional employees; and information on workforce training programs. Our ongoing work in this area includes the establishment of a pre-apprenticeship training program in the building and construction trades, and research on tax credits designed to encourage employers to create jobs and hire from specific populations.

For more about JOTF Employer Engagement activties, contact Business Liaison Gerald Ford at (410) 234-8931.

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Employer Tax Credits

Employers in Maryland may qualify for a variety of state and federal hiring incentives designed to encourage the employment of job seekers for particular populations. Some employer tax credits include:

Work Opportunity Tax Credit: This is a federal tax credit that encourages employers to hire eight targeted groups of job seekers by reducing employers’ federal income tax liability by as much as $2,400 per qualified new worker; $750, if working 120 hours or $1,200, if working 400 hours or more, per qualified summer youth.

Federal Bonding Program: This program reduces an employer's insurance liability by up to $5,000 against theft or larceny committed by an employee. For information on the Federal Bonding Program, contact the Maryland Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation at (410) 767-2018 or ehoward@careernet.state.md.us.

Businesses That Create New Jobs Credit: Businesses located in Maryland that create new positions and establish or expand business facilities in the state may be entitled to a tax credit. To be eligible for the tax credit, businesses must first have been granted a property tax credit by a local government of Maryland for creating the new jobs.

Employment Opportunity Tax Credit: Businesses that hire an individual who is receiving Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) or Family Investment Program (FIP) entitlements may be entitled to a tax credit for wages paid to the employee and child care and transportation expenses paid on behalf of the employee.

Commuter Tax Credit: Maryland-based businesses that provide commuter benefits for employees may be entitled to a tax credit for a portion of the amounts paid during the taxable year. Commuter benefits include an employee's travel to and from home and the workplace, van-pool to or from home and the workplace, a Guaranteed Ride Home program or a parking "Cash-Out" program.

For more information about federal hiring incentives and other resources, visit the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration website: http://www.doleta.gov/business/

For more information about state tax credits for employers, visit the Comptroller of Maryland website: http://taxpros.marylandtaxes.com/guides/taxcredit/

For additional information about workforce development resources in the Baltimore area, contact JOTF Business Liaison Gerald Ford at (410) 234-893.

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Hiring Ex-Offenders is Good Business

Approximately 12,000 ex-offenders return each year from state prisons to communities across Maryland. Although most have limited education levels, many acquired part-time work experience prior to their incarceration, and can bring strong and varied aptitudes to a workplace. By partnering with public and nonprofit workforce development organizations that provide employment training and placement assistance to ex-offenders, employers can benefit from financial incentives, retention services, and other supports.

Some ex-offenders learn valuable job skills during their incarceration. Maryland's Correctional Education program boasts the highest pass rate of any public GED program in the State, and the State Department of Education adminsters a variety of intensive occupational training programs in areas such as construction, computer repair, and HVAC.

With new attention being focused on the employment challenges facing ex-offenders, the list of regional employers who are willing to hire them is growing. These are companies both big and small, ranging from retailers to builders to sales firms.

Citizens Lending Group (CLG) in Towson, for example, has had success hiring ex-offenders to work as telephone sales agents. Isaac Dilver, the company's head of marketing, says that CLG is determined to give ex-offenders a second chance. But more important, the ex-offenders that CLG has hired have performed well in jobs paying at least $12/hour. The company has found these employees to be committed workers whose success rate is comparable to that of the company's overall workforce.

Mr. Dilver insists that applicants be forthright about their criminal histories. In return, the company assesses applicants' prospects for handling the job, without penalizing them for whatever might have occurred in their pasts.

"Everyone deserves a second chance," Mr. Dilver says, "and this group of workers has been very good for the company."

Evaluating a criminal record

Contrary to popular belief, a "criminal record" is not simply a record of convictions. All arrests or citations (other than traffic offenses), regardless of court disposition, appear on background check reports provided by the State and private companies. Convictions will be noted, but the record also reflects items that never led to conviction, such as:

• Case Dismissal: Where the court finds that the state's evidence, even if true, is insufficient to find guilt.
• Acquittal: Where the defendant is put on trial and found Not Guilty by a judge or jury.
• Probation Before Judgment: Where sufficient evidence to convict may be present, but the court allows the defendant to escape the stigma of conviction through an agreement to abide by the terms of probation.
• Nolle Prosequi: Where the State's Attorney decides not to prosecute the case because the charge is spurious, witnesses are unavailable, etc.
• Placement on the Stet Docket: Where, by agreement, the trial of a case is postponed on the condition the defendant avoid further arrest for one to three years. If the condition is broken, the case is resurrected and the defendant tried on the new and 'stetted' charges. If the condition is fulfilled and three years have passed, the case cannot be resurrected.

Employers can safely hire job applicants with a criminal history records by adopting hiring policies and procedures that are prudent and thorough for the jobs in their company and industry. Since federal law discourages businesses from adopting a blanket policy of denying employment to individuals with criminal records, the employer should make an individual assessment about hiring each applicant by considering:

1. The nature and gravity of the offense(s);
2. The time that has passed since the coviction and/or completion of the sentence; and
3. The nature of the job being sought.

When interviewing an applicant, an employer should feel free to discuss the content of the criminal history record, including the number and nature of items listed, the age of the applicant at the time of conviction, and the applicant's behavior and activities since that time. Employers should also consider evidence of rehabilitation, such as any education, job training, cognitive skill-building, recovery from substance abuse, and work experience the applicant has acquired.

Employers who hire individuals with criminal records often find that these men and women, when judged on their own merits and aptitudes, are reliable and hard-working employees who are eager to have a second chance to lead productive lives.

Ex-Offender Hiring Resources

Publications from the National HIRE Network and the Illinois Department of Employment Security:

• Individuals with Criminal Histories: A Potential Untapped Resource
• Negligent Hiring Concerns
• Addressing Employer Concerns and Misperceptions About Hiring Ex-Offenders

Government and nonrpfofit organizations that prepare ex-offenders for the workforce in the Baltimore region:

• Baltimore Mayor's Office of Employment Development, Ex-Offender Initiative
• Baltimore County Office of Employment and Training
• Anne Arundel Workforce Development Corporation
• Caroline Center
• Catholic Charities - Christopher Place Employment Academy
• Center for Fathers, Families, and Workforce Development
• East Baltimore Community Corporation - The GATE
• Goodwill Industries of the Chesapeake
• Maryland New Directions
  

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Workforce Training Initiatives

JOTF is committed to forging partnerships with businesses in key industrial sectors that offer good jobs and opportunities for advancement to low-skill workers in the Baltimore area. Two of the region's most critical industries are healthcare and construction. JOTF works with employers, foundations, training providers, public agencies, and nonprofits to create occupational skills training programs that help employees move beyond the entry-level and toward family economic success.

Baltimore Alliance for Careers in Healthcare Pre-Allied Health Bridge Program

The Baltimore Alliance for Careers in Healthcare (BACH), formerly known as the Baltimore Healthcare Coalition, is an alliance of public and private entities working in Baltimore, which seeks to address unemployment, underemployment and healthcare workforce shortage issues by identifying healthcare career pathways leading to economic independence and training city residents to enter into and advance in them. BACH has over 70 members, including representatives from healthcare organizations, foundations, government agencies, educational institutions and other non-profit organizations.

In keeping with its mission, BACH is seeking a training provider to develop a pre-allied health 'bridge' training program prototype for Baltimore City residents who are interested in the healthcare field but who require short-term remediation before entering into healthcare training.

In November 2005 BACH issued a Request for Qualifications (RFQ) from organizations interested in developing the pre-allied health bridge program. Read Questions and Answers about the RFQ.

For more information contact: Ronald M. Hearn, Baltimore Alliance for Careers in Healthcare, Inc.

Pre-Apprenticeship Program in Building and Construction

Construction is booming in Baltimore. Demand for skilled workers is strong and increasing. Yet many local Baltimore city residents are unable to obtain high paying jobs in the building and construction industry. Many of the best jobs within the industry such as electrician, plumber, and carpenter require individuals to complete a multi-year apprenticeship. Competition for admittance into an apprenticeship program is severe and many low-income residents - those most in need of a high paying job - are unable to get into such a program on their own, most often failing due to limited math proficiency, poor performance in the interview for admission or lack of work experience.

In 2005, JOTF partnered with the Baltimore Workforce Investment Board, Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC), and Goodwill Industries of the Chesapeake to develop a building trades pre-apprenticeship program for East Baltimore residents. ABC will oversee training and work-placement initiatives designed to connect graduates to apprenticeship postions in the construction industry.

Support for the program comes from the Annie E. Casey Foundation and Open Society Institute - Baltimore. Recruiting is scheduled to commence later this month. For more information, contact Phil Holmes at Goodwill Industries: 410-837-1800; or Mike Henderson at ABC: 410-821-0351.

Read more about the East Baltimore construction pre-apprenticeship program:
Baltimore Sun: "Getting a leg up from far down"
Baltimore Business Journal: "City launches construction on job-training program" (10/02/05)

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