Information about the Kentucky State University Cooperative Extension Program 2021

Chris Cribbs, MA, State Specialist for Entrepreneurship

You are a small business owner in search of employees that fit perfectly with your business. However, it seems that most of your applicants are ex-offenders, individuals with poor credit records, youth and adults who lack work histories. You are seriously considering hiring an at-risk and hard-to-place employee, but you have major reservations. Well, thanks to the U.S. Department of Labor's Federal Bonding Program, you can cover your assets when hiring at-risk and hard-to-place employees.

The U.S. Department of Labor established the Federal Bonding Program in 1966 to provide fidelity bonds to employers to ensure their business if they hire at-risk, hard-to-place job seekers who cannot get private coverage. The Federal Bonding Program provides a fidelity bond that is a limited-liability insurance policy at NO COST to the job applicant or employer. Thousands of employers across the country have integrated the Federal Bonding Program into their hiring practices – industries that support our country's economy – hospitality, retail, construction, transportation, auto repair, manufacturing, healthcare, non-profits, banking, tourism and more. Federal bonding has helped more than 40,000 individuals become employed.

The federal fidelity bond from CHUBB Insurance insures employers against theft, forgery, larceny, or embezzlement by the bonded employee for the first six months of a selected individual's employment. Each bond has a $5,000 limit with $0 deductible.