Does Coca-Cola hire people with felonies?

What Coca-Cola has said

In the US, jobs making, delivering and stocking Coca-Cola drinks are largely with independent bottling companies, not The Coca-Cola Company. The Coca-Cola Company says it finished handing its US bottling operations back to independent bottlers in 2017, leaving nearly 70 independent bottlers, and each bottler hires on its own terms. The Coca-Cola Company itself signed the White House Fair Chance Business Pledge in 2016, which asked companies to reduce hiring barriers for people with records; we found no current company page restating that policy.

• Signed the 2016 Fair Chance Business Pledge

  The Coca-Cola Company was listed among the first companies to sign the White House Fair Chance Business Pledge on April 11, 2016. Signers committed to reducing barriers for people with criminal records, for example by delaying criminal history questions and considering records in context.¹

• How its bottlers are organized

  On October 30, 2017, The Coca-Cola Company announced it had completed refranchising its company-owned US bottling operations to independent bottlers, leaving nearly 70 independent bottlers in the US system. The transitions covered more than 55,000 employees. Named bottlers include Liberty Coca-Cola Beverages, Reyes Coca-Cola Bottling and Swire Coca-Cola, USA.²

Does Coca-Cola do background checks?

Coca-Cola hasn't said publicly whether it runs background checks. We could not confirm The Coca-Cola Company's background check process. Bottlers run their own hiring, so screening for bottler jobs (drivers, merchandisers, warehouse and production) depends on the bottler.

• How long a background check takes

Does Coca-Cola drug test?

Coca-Cola hasn't published a drug testing policy. Some job postings say whether a test is required, so check the listing for the role you want.

Rules for specific jobs

• Delivery drivers, merchandisers, warehouse and production workers

  In the US these jobs are generally with independent Coca-Cola bottlers, not The Coca-Cola Company. Check the specific bottler's careers site for its screening rules; The Coca-Cola Company's 2016 pledge does not apply to them.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.^3,4,5
• 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."^3,4
• You have the right to dispute inaccurate or incomplete information in your background report directly with the company that made it.^3,6
• 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.^7,8
• 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).^7,9

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.^3,6,10
• 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.¹¹
• 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.^12,13

See whether you can clear your record in your state