A few months ago, one of our onsite directors, Megan Martin, placed a candidate into a role through our standard recruiting process. It was routine, until it wasn’t. Megan soon learned the candidate was part of a work release program. His life came with rules most of us never think about: a strict curfew, a limit on travel distance, no daily overtime and public transportation only, no rideshares. He could not leave for a shift more than two hours early and had to be back within two hours of it ending.

Megan could have called the work too complicated and the rules too foreboding. But she had an eager job seeker and lots of openings to fill. Instead of taking the easy route, she called the program director to understand every rule. With the right knowledge and effort, she know she could match him, and candidates in the same situation, to sites where the schedule would work.

One person in need of a job and hope became a handful. A handful became dozens. Today, Megan and her team have helped place 40 individuals from second chance and work release programs. Six of them have already graduated from their programs and are still working with Staffmark.

The hustle in this story lives on both sides. Workers in the program can spend hours a day traveling back and forth for an eight-hour shift, sprinting for buses that run late. After all, missing curfew has real consequences. These workers keep only a portion of each paycheck while in the program, with the rest held until they’re out. Despite those hurdles, they still show up on time, every day, because a job is not just a job to them. It is a chance for a new start.

Staffmark’s side of that effort means increased support and more tools. Each week, associates send Megan their schedules, and she builds the passes that let them leave the program grounds, dozens of them, with no room for a missed deadline. She coordinates with each program’s counselor, often daily. And because many associates can’t use direct deposit, she personally works out paycheck delivery to the program site every pay period.

Megan has also talked directly to employers who required daily overtime and walked them through attendance and retention numbers of talent in the program. With that data in hand, she has asked them to adjust the overtime requirement so workers in the program wouldn’t be penalized for a late bus. More than one employer has said yes.

“These candidates are so eager to work and the work ethic they bring is incredible,” Megan said. “They don’t even get to keep their full paycheck at the start, and they still come in and give it all, show up every day, show up on time.”

One associate who came to Megan through the program has since been promoted to onsite supervisor, running his own shift and mentoring others walking the same path he once walked. Word has traveled between program staff and families, and referrals keep coming from the original program and others like it.

For Megan, her reasons for saying yes to good work release program partners were simple. “I’m providing a critical lifestyle change,” she said. “You never know what someone’s situation is. I don’t judge people. I am here to say, hey, here’s your chance to really show yourself.”

This work sits at the intersection of two things Staffmark Group cares about deeply: filling jobs with expertise and speed and taking care of people. Building sustainable, ethical workforce solutions at Staffmark includes considering and expanding who gets a seat at the table. Second chance hiring is a core part of that effort. Placements and fill rates are numbers we track and celebrate as business. Expanding who we provide opportunity and purpose to doesn’t show up on a scorecard, but it matters.