Does DHL hire people with felonies?

What DHL has said

DHL hasn't published a policy on hiring people with criminal records, and it isn't a Second Chance Business Coalition member. In 2023, DHL Supply Chain (legally Exel Inc.) settled a class action for $2.7 million that alleged its criminal background check policy disproportionately excluded Black and Hispanic applicants for non-exempt jobs; DHL denied the claims and agreed to have a consultant review that policy. Some DHL Express postings for drivers, couriers and supervisors say candidates must pass pre-employment background, drug and medical screening, and some airport gateway and hub postings say the job requires an airport security (SIDA) badge, which involves federal background checks and, on some postings, a criminal history check and fingerprinting. The DHL Supply Chain warehouse postings we read listed no screening steps.

• Class action settlement

  In March 2023, two applicants filed a class action (Pickett v. Exel Inc., N.D. Ill., No. 1:23-cv-01655) alleging that DHL Supply Chain's criminal background check policy, and its rule disqualifying applicants who didn't fully disclose criminal history, had a disparate impact on Black and Hispanic applicants for non-exempt jobs at its U.S. sites. DHL Supply Chain denied liability and settled for $2.7 million. It agreed to have an industrial-organizational psychologist review its background check policy and propose changes, and to adopt the changes it accepted, with disagreements decided by the mediator. The class covered Black and Hispanic applicants for non-exempt jobs with DHL Supply Chain from 2016 through 2021 whose conditional job offers were rescinded at least partly because of information on a background report or because they hadn't fully disclosed criminal history. The court gave final approval on August 22, 2023. The filings we read don't say what, if anything, changed in the policy.¹

Does DHL do background checks?

DHL runs background checks for some roles. We found no DHL applicant screening notice for the United States; the applicant data protection notice on DHL's careers site covers Europe and the UK. Several DHL Express postings (drivers, couriers, and field and gateway supervisors in New York, New Jersey, Indiana and Missouri) say candidates must pass pre-employment background, drug and medical screening, and some supervisor postings also require a valid driver's license and a motor vehicle record that meets DHL's driving-privileges standards. DHL Supply Chain's 2023 settlement agreement refers to its policy on using criminal background checks before hiring, and its class covered applicants whose conditional offers were rescinded at least partly because of a background report or incomplete disclosure of criminal history, but the DHL Supply Chain postings we read list no screening steps.^1,2,3

• Criminal history
• Driving record

• How long a background check takes

Does DHL drug test?

DHL drug tests for some roles. Some DHL Express postings for drivers, couriers and supervisors say candidates must pass a pre-employment drug screening. We found no DHL Supply Chain or company-wide drug-testing policy, and the DHL Supply Chain postings we read don't mention drug tests. CDL drivers also fall under federal DOT testing rules (see role notes).^2,4

Rules for specific jobs

• DHL Express couriers and delivery drivers

  DHL Express postings for part-time drivers and couriers (Brooklyn, Newburgh and Syracuse, New York; Jersey City and Elizabeth, New Jersey), including one CDL casual driver job, say candidates must pass pre-employment background, drug and medical physical screening.²

• DHL Express airport gateway and hub jobs

  Postings at DHL Express gateways in Jamaica, New York and Kansas City, Missouri say staff must pass FAA, TSA and CBP background and security checks to get a SIDA airport badge. Postings in Erlanger, Kentucky say the badge requires passing a criminal history records check and fingerprinting and meeting federal, state and local rules.⁵

• DHL Supply Chain warehouse jobs

  The DHL Supply Chain warehouse postings we read (forklift operators, material handlers, cycle counters, leads and managers in Pennsylvania, Ohio, New Hampshire and other states) had no background-check, drug-test or fair-chance wording.⁶

• Commercial drivers in DOT-regulated jobs (federal rule)

  Federal rules require a verified negative pre-employment drug test before a CDL driver first performs safety-sensitive work for an employer.⁷

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