Does Cracker Barrel hire people with felonies?

What Cracker Barrel has said

Cracker Barrel runs its own restaurant-and-retail stores; its 2025 annual report says none of its 657 stores in 43 states were franchised. We found no Cracker Barrel statement on hiring people with criminal records, and it is not a Second Chance Business Coalition member. The store, restaurant manager and support-center postings we read, including six in California, carry only a standard equal opportunity statement, while two current distribution center postings in Lebanon, Tennessee list a background check among their hiring requirements. Its California candidate privacy notice says it may receive background check results, including criminal records, for certain roles; its general privacy policy doesn't cover job applicants.

We didn't find a public statement from Cracker Barrel 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 Cracker Barrel do background checks?

Cracker Barrel runs background checks for some roles. Two current postings for Cracker Barrel's Lebanon, Tennessee distribution center, for a material handler and a lift operator, say applicants must meet its hiring requirements, including a background check; they don't say what the check covers or when it happens. None of the store, restaurant manager or support-center postings we read mention one. Cracker Barrel's California candidate privacy notice, written for California applicants, lists background check and screening results, such as education verification, criminal records and driver's license checks, among information it may receive from screening companies to judge suitability for certain roles where the law allows. Its general privacy policy doesn't cover applicants.^1,2,3

• How long a background check takes

Does Cracker Barrel drug test?

Cracker Barrel hasn't published a drug testing policy. None of the Cracker Barrel postings we read, including the two distribution center postings that list a background check, mention drug testing, and neither its privacy policy nor its California candidate notice mentions it.

Rules for specific jobs

• Store jobs (all company-operated)

  Cracker Barrel's annual report says no Cracker Barrel stores were franchised as of September 12, 2025, so store jobs are with the company itself rather than a franchise owner.⁴

• Distribution center jobs (Lebanon, Tennessee)

  Two current distribution center postings, for a material handler and a lift operator, list meeting Cracker Barrel's hiring requirements, including a background check. Neither mentions drug testing or carries fair-chance wording.¹

• Restaurant managers

  The restaurant manager postings we read (Buda, Texas; Cincinnati, Ohio; Suwanee, Georgia; Burlington, North Carolina) ask for a valid driver's license and mention no background check or drug test.⁵

• Store jobs in California

  The six California store postings we read (Victorville, Rocklin, Camarillo, Rialto and Bakersfield) carry only the equal opportunity statement. Cracker Barrel's California candidate privacy notice says it may receive background check results, including criminal records, to judge suitability for certain roles.³

• Maple Street Biscuit Company

  Cracker Barrel's annual report describes Maple Street Biscuit Company as its fast-casual breakfast and lunch concept, with 68 company-run locations in 10 states. We didn't research its hiring separately; nothing in this record is confirmed for those locations.⁴

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.^14,15,16
• 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."^14,15
• You have the right to dispute inaccurate or incomplete information in your background report directly with the company that made it.^14,17
• 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.^18,19
• 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).^18,20

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.^14,17,21
• 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.²²
• 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.^23,24

See whether you can clear your record in your state