Equity Starts With a Fair Chance

Through its Fair Chance Hiring Campaign, DEO is committed to helping employers understand and comply with the Los Angeles County Fair Chance Ordinance for Employers (FCO) while providing resources and opportunities that empower individuals with criminal histories to highlight their skills and experiences and successfully meet local workforce needs.

LA County Fair Chance Ordinance

The FCO helps eliminate outdated, discriminatory, and unlawful hiring practices that can unfairly impact individuals with criminal histories by implementing compliance requirements and penalties at the local level. By promoting fair access to employment, the FCO seeks to connect qualified yet often overlooked talent to hiring employers, reducing recidivism and increasing local and targeted hiring, work retention and mobility, local economic growth, and community well-being. The FCO builds on the 2018 California Fair Chance Act, which made it unlawful to discriminate against individuals in hiring on the basis of their justice involvement without due process. The FCO provides additional local protections and is enforced by the LA County Department of Consumer and Business Affairs, which has the authority to investigate complaints and penalize employers, when necessary.

Upcoming Events

LA County Fair Chance Hiring Campaign

DEO leads the Fair Chance Hiring Campaign. This was originally launched in 2019 and has expanded with the new FCO in 2024.

The Fair Chance Hiring Campaign is a public awareness campaign and dedicated workforce programming for hiring employers as well as justice-impacted workers. DEO, its network of America’s Job Centers of California, and partners Taskforce and Center for Employment Opportunities provide information and technical assistance on the California Fair Chance Act and FCO that helps justice-impacted workers know their rights and employers stay compliant with the new laws. The campaign also encourages employers to pledge to Fair Chance hiring and offers recruitment and other financial incentives to match to qualified jobseekers with justice-involvement. Finally, dedicated job prep, skills training, paid work, and hiring support are customized and available to justice-impacted jobseekers in high-growth sectors.

For Employers

DEO leads outreach and education efforts to ensure that both employers and jobseekers understand their rights and responsibilities under the FCO.

The FCO limits when and how employers can consider criminal history and establishes strict procedure if they decide to rescind a job offer based on criminal history. While the California Fair Chance Act provides similar protections, the FCO in LA County offers additional safeguards and allows the County to fine employers who violate its provisions.

The Center for Employment Opportunities (CEO) is providing technical assistance with DEO to employers as part of the Fair Chance Hiring campaign. DEO and its America’s Job Centers of California also ensures local employers access the skills and experience of those Angelenos with lived experience.