Does Chili's hire people with felonies?

What Chili's has said

Brinker International's applicant and worker privacy notice (updated April 14, 2026) covers applicants to Brinker and its subsidiaries including Chili's, Inc., says it uses applicant information for processing background checks, and lists pre-employment drug tests among the health records it may collect. The notice says it doesn't apply to Chili's franchisees or licensees, who are independent owners, and some Chili's postings are labeled as run by an independent franchise owner. We found no Chili's or Brinker statement on hiring people with criminal records, and neither is on the Second Chance Business Coalition member list.

We didn't find a public statement from Chili's about hiring people with records: not on its careers site, in its reports, or in its announcements. That doesn't mean it won't hire you. It means there's nothing on the record to point to.

Does Chili's do background checks?

Chili's runs background checks. Brinker's applicant and worker privacy notice (updated April 14, 2026), which covers Brinker, Chili's, Inc. and Maggiano's applicants, lists processing background checks of new applicants among its purposes and names background check vendors among the service providers that may receive applicant information. It doesn't say what the checks cover (it doesn't name criminal history), which jobs get checked, when in the process, or how results are weighed. It doesn't apply to franchisee or licensee restaurants.¹

• How long a background check takes

Does Chili's drug test?

Chili's hasn't published a drug testing policy. Brinker's applicant and worker privacy notice lists pre-employment drug tests as an example of medical or health records it may collect, but it doesn't say which jobs, if any, require one.¹

Rules for specific jobs

• Team members and managers at franchisee- or licensee-operated Chili's restaurants

  Brinker's applicant and worker privacy notice says it doesn't apply to Chili's franchisees or licensees, who are independent business owners, and that questions about their information practices go to them. The Dallas Love Field Airport host posting we opened says the location is operated by an independent franchise owner and gives a separate way to apply. Check the posting to see who operates the restaurant, and ask that employer about background checks.²

Your rights, and how far back a check can go

• Under the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), an employer must get your written permission before it gets a background report about you from a background screening company.^12,13,14
• Before an employer decides not to hire, keep, or promote you because of something in a background report, it must give you a copy of the report and a document called "A Summary of Your Rights Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act."^12,13
• You have the right to dispute inaccurate or incomplete information in your background report directly with the company that made it.^12,15
• The FCRA's seven-year limit does not apply to criminal convictions, so under federal law a conviction can show up on a background report no matter how old it is.^16,17
• Under the FCRA, background and credit reports generally cannot include arrest records, civil lawsuits, or civil judgments that are more than seven years old (or older than the statute of limitations, if that is longer).^16,18

Your full background check rights

Before you apply

• You can ask a background screening company for the information it has on you, and the CFPB keeps a list of consumer reporting companies, including employment screening companies, with their contact details.^12,15,19
• According to the Clean Slate Initiative, 14 states and Washington, D.C. have passed Clean Slate laws that meet its criteria for automatically clearing eligible records: Pennsylvania, Utah, New Jersey, Connecticut, Michigan, Delaware, Virginia, California, Oklahoma, Colorado, Minnesota, New York, Illinois, and Missouri, plus D.C.²⁰
• The Federal Bonding Program, run by the U.S. Department of Labor, lets states give employers free fidelity bonds that protect them against losses from a newly hired worker's dishonest acts, for job seekers with past justice involvement or in recovery from substance use.^21,22

See whether you can clear your record in your state