Career Series 4: The Federal Bonding Program—What It Is and How to Benefit from It

What are Fidelity Bonds?

Fidelity bonds are a type of insurance for employers that covers dishonest acts of new employees within the first six months of employment. These bonds cover theft, forgery, larceny, embezzlement, and other acts of employee dishonesty. Fidelity bonds are purchased by companies due to state requirements or to provide peace of mind to the business. The two common types of fidelity bonds include business service bonds and employee dishonesty bonds which protect customers and the business itself, respectively, from employee actions.

Federal Bonding Program

In 1966, the U.S. Department of Labor began the Federal Bonding Program. This program was established to assist hard-to-place job seekers secure fidelity bond. This program aims to help those who employers may look at with distrust the opportunity to find and keep jobs. Fidelity bonds purchased by companies do not typically cover justice-involved individuals. The Federal Bonding Program helps to provide bonding services to these individuals at no cost to either the employee or the employer, which alleviates employer concerns and provides incentive for companies to hire individuals who have been incarcerated.

This program has helped about 40,000 applicants with securing jobs due to being bonded and 99% have proven their integrity as employees. According to the Nevada State site, 12% of employers claimed they would be willing to hire applicants with a criminal history compared to 51% who stated they would hire individuals with a criminal history if they were bonded. Bonding services give individuals returning from incarceration an opportunity to be considered more fairly in the hiring process, and it levels the playing field between you and other applicants. If your criminal history is brought up during the interview process, you can inform the hiring company about this program.

How to Apply

The Federal Bonding Program makes acquiring a bond easy for applicants as the only requirement is for the applicant to be of legal working age. These bonds can be obtained through your local American Job Center or from state bonding coordinators. There is no lengthy paperwork involved either and an applicant may receive bonding once they are scheduled to begin work.