Does Denny's hire people with felonies?

What Denny's has said

Most restaurant postings on Denny's careers site are for franchise-owned restaurants, and they say the independent franchisee alone sets job requirements and makes hiring decisions, and that Denny's won't see applications. In nearly every posting we read, in at least 30 states and DC, an equal-employment sentence lists criminal background among the characteristics it says don't limit equal employment opportunity; Denny's, Inc.'s own postings, including corporate jobs in South Carolina, state it as Denny's, Inc.'s commitment, and franchise postings carry the same sentence. We found no Denny's page describing a hiring program, background checks or drug testing, and Denny's is not on the Second Chance Business Coalition member list.

• Statement in a job posting

  All 39 postings in a sample spanning 30 states (including Texas, Georgia, Florida, Arizona, Alabama and Illinois) carried an equal-employment sentence listing criminal background among the characteristics, ending with any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local law. Of 10 more postings we read in New York, Maryland and DC, nine carried it; the exception was a short, free-form server posting in Laurel, MD. In franchise postings, which are most of them, the sentence begins with 'Our brand' or 'Our brands'.¹

• Statement in a job posting

  Denny's, Inc.'s own postings word the same sentence as Denny's, Inc.'s commitment to equal employment opportunity regardless of characteristics that include criminal background. We saw it on two corporate postings in Spartanburg, SC, a restaurant manager posting in Las Vegas, NV and a host posting in North Hollywood, CA, so it is not confined to California postings.²

Does Denny's do background checks?

Denny's hasn't said publicly whether it runs background checks. Denny's doesn't publish a screening policy in its careers pages, postings or privacy policy. Its franchise postings say the franchisee alone sets requirements and makes hiring decisions, so practices can differ by restaurant. One franchisee's cook posting in Spiceland, IN says that franchisee maintains a drug-free work environment, but it says nothing about background checks.^1,3,4

• How long a background check takes

Does Denny's drug test?

Denny's hasn't published a drug testing policy. No Denny's page says whether applicants are drug tested. One franchisee's cook posting (Spiceland, IN) says that franchisee maintains a drug-free work environment, without saying whether it tests applicants.³

Rules for specific jobs

• Servers, cooks, hosts and managers at franchisee-owned restaurants

  Denny's franchise postings say the independent franchisee is alone responsible for employment matters at the restaurant, including setting requirements and hiring decisions, that the franchisor won't receive a copy of your application or control whether you're hired, and that the franchisee is the employer if you are. Ask that restaurant about background checks; Denny's equal-employment sentence doesn't tell you what a particular franchisee does.¹

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.^17,18,19
• 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."^17,18
• You have the right to dispute inaccurate or incomplete information in your background report directly with the company that made it.^17,20
• 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.^21,22
• 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).^21,23

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.^17,20,24
• 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.²⁵
• 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.^26,27

See whether you can clear your record in your state