Fontella Hampton was recently promoted to shift leaderat the MOD Pizza chain. Two years ago, simply getting andholding down a job was a daunting prospect. Hampton, 53, was behindbars in the Logan Correctional Center near Springfield, Illinois,after being convicted of domestic battery.She'd previously served time for drug possession.

Not exactly the life history employers look for. ButHampton applied to MOD through 70 Million Jobs, a for-profit job boardfor people with criminal records, and was hired about 10months ago at one of the fast-casual chain's Chicago-arearestaurants. Now she's supporting three of her grandchildren,buying a house, and celebrating a fresh start.

“It's the reason I get up out of bed in the morning, because Iwas only getting up to go and do drugs,” she says. “Once I got thejob under my belt, I just had to find myself and get the confidencethat I could do these things.”

Struggling to fill openings amid the tightest labor market inhalf a century, U.S. restaurant chains as varied asMcDonald's Corp., MOD, and Firehouse Subs are overlookingthe stigma that clings to ex-offenders like Hampton. Besideskeeping their workforce topped up, the companies are reaping apublic-relations benefit by helping reintegrate parolees intosociety.

Hiring managers acknowledge that some customers may balk if theydiscover the person serving them served time. But in manycases, they say, former prisoners are model employeesbecause they appreciate the second chance.

“Even though they made some bad choices, they're not badpeople,” says Ron Smith, who runs 13 McDonald'sfranchises in the Las Vegas area and has been hiring cashiers andfry cooks from juvenile detention halls. “They have seen theopportunity in front of them.”

Smith is finding them through Toe Tag Monologues, a youththeater group started by a retired policeofficer that weaves school violence, drug abuse, andother life-and-death situations into performance art. Heisn't planning to hire adult ex-convicts right nowbut hopes to share his youth program with otherMcDonald's operators around the country.

Firehouse Subs is heading to a hiring event for ex-offendersnext month in Jacksonville, Florida. Last year, amid the laborcrunch, the 1,170-store chain signed a three-year agreement withthe Florida Department of Corrections to consider convicted felonsfor all vacant positions including cashiers, delivery drivers, andmanagers. “It's still a very tough environment” to hire, CEO DonFox says. “It goes back to the unemployment rate being so low.”

America has the largest prison population in theworld, in large part the result of get-tough-on-crimelegislation in the 1990s that has come to be seenas an overreaction. A bipartisan bill reintroduced thisyear would offer $20 billion to statesthat decrease their prison populations while alsokeeping crime rates low.

Incarceration rates have already been falling in recentyears. Yet 2.16 million people remained behindbars, and another 4.54 million were on probation or parole at theend of 2016. That's roughly one in 38 adults, according tothe Bureau of Justice Statistics. The unemployment rate amongparolees, an estimated 27 percent, is more than seven times higherthan it is for the general population.

When labor markets are tight, companies tend to loosen theirhiring restrictions. In the late 1990s, companies activelyrecruited so-called welfare moms after the U.S. beganrequiring people to work in exchange forgovernment assistance. Many employers had good results with thesehires, who gained experience and were more likely to keeptheir jobs when the economy soured.

Harry Holzer, a public policy professor at GeorgetownUniversity, says now's the time to put ex-cons to work. “These arethe best possible circumstances,” says Holzer, who wasformerly chief economist at the Department of Labor. “Weoughta really be trying very hard as a society to place theseguys.”

Restaurants have struggled to find enough workers for severalyears. Besides operating in a tight labor market, they're alsocompeting for talent with gig-economy employers like UberTechnologies Inc. Chains are turning to nonprofit and for-profitgroups set up to help ex-offenders find work.

These organizations do a lot of the grunt work, helpingreconnect families, manage substance abuse and even buildresumes. 70 Million Jobs says it looks for people who've been outof prison for a while and have stayed out of trouble. Typically,low-level drug dealers get a pass; those who've committed murder,rape, or sex crimes don't.

Defy of Northern California helps former inmates withinterview prep, including reminders to make eye contact, enunciatewords, and shake hands firmly. The nonprofit also has acourse on dining etiquette—in case they need to attend a lunchmeeting—and helps with soft skills, such as thinking like acustomer.

Lucas Rose, another MOD employee with a record, says he washomeless and addicted to drugs before finding work. The22-year-old had served time in jail after failing to showup for court dates. But he's in recovery now, has an apartment, andattends narcotics anonymous meetings with co-workers. Soon, he'llbe a MOD assistant manager overseeing 35 people.

MOD is a “second-chance company,” Rose says. “Theydon't judge people based on their past and where they're comingfrom.”

The chain says that because former felons tend to stick around,hiring them makes financial sense. The pizza purveyor'sfirst employee with a criminal record started in 2010. Kory Harp,38, still works at MOD and was just promoted for the fifthtime—now, he's at the company's headquarters in Bellevue,Washington. At his first interview, Harp was wearing a monitoringbracelet.