Does Express Employment Professionals hire people with felonies?

What Express Employment Professionals has said

Express Employment Professionals is a franchised staffing company: Express says all of its offices are locally owned and operated, and they place associates in jobs with client businesses. We found no Express statement on hiring people with criminal records, and Express isn't a Second Chance Business Coalition member. Its U.S. privacy policy, which also covers information gathered through its franchise offices, says Express may collect criminal history and lists background and criminal check results, and drug test results where a client requires them, among information it gets from outside sources. In 115 current postings we read from 41 offices in 16 states, screening requirements varied by office and job, and only one Los Angeles-area office's postings carried fair-chance wording, citing the city's ordinance.

• Local fair-chance notice

  Postings from Express's LAX office in Hawthorne, California say all qualified applicants, including those with criminal histories, will be considered in a manner consistent with state and local laws, naming the City of Los Angeles Fair Chance Initiative for Hiring Ordinance. We didn't see this wording on postings from the 40 other offices we sampled.¹

Does Express Employment Professionals do background checks?

Express Employment Professionals runs background checks. Express's U.S. privacy policy (last updated April 9, 2026), which covers applicants and job seekers and information from its franchise offices, says Express may collect criminal history and may get information from credit reporting agencies and public databases, giving as examples background and criminal check results, credit history, and drug test results where a client requires them. It doesn't say when checks happen, who runs them or how results are weighed. Some postings list a background check, such as a packaging job in Saint Peters, Missouri and a front-desk job in Bradenton, Florida; most postings we read don't mention one.^2,3,4

• Criminal history
• Credit
• Drug screen

• How long a background check takes

Does Express Employment Professionals drug test?

Express Employment Professionals drug tests for some roles. Express's privacy policy says it may collect drug screening results when a particular job requires them, and receives drug test results from screening services where a client requires testing. Some postings require a drug test, such as a front-desk job in Bradenton, Florida (5-panel test) and a Class B driver job in Brea, California (drug and alcohol test); most postings we read don't mention testing.^2,4,5

Rules for specific jobs

• All Express offices (locally owned franchises)

  Express says it is a franchised staffing company and that all of its locations are locally owned and operated. Screening wording in postings differs from office to office, so ask the office you apply through what checks its jobs require.⁶

• Assignments with client businesses

  Express's FAQ says requirements vary by position and are listed in each posting, and its privacy policy ties drug test results to jobs where a client requires them, so screening can change from one assignment to the next.⁷

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

  Federal rules require a verified negative drug test before a CDL driver first performs safety-sensitive work for an employer. Express offices post Class A and Class B driver jobs.⁸

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