Does General Motors hire people with felonies?

What General Motors has said

General Motors is a member of the Second Chance Business Coalition (listed as GM) and was among the companies named when the coalition launched in April 2021. We found no GM page of its own describing a second-chance hiring program or policy. GM's How We Hire page says that in each of its hiring tracks, including production and warehouse jobs, people who get a job offer are asked to complete a drug screen and background check. Its candidate privacy statement says pre-hire screening, where it applies, can include criminal, credit, education and motor vehicle record checks, and lists past criminal charges or convictions, where relevant to the job, among the information it may collect.

• Second Chance Business Coalition member

  Listed as a member of the Second Chance Business Coalition (as GM).¹

• Founding member of the Second Chance Business Coalition

  General Motors was among the companies the coalition named as having joined when it launched on April 26, 2021.²

Does General Motors do background checks?

General Motors runs background checks after a job offer. GM's How We Hire page says that for professional, skilled trades, and production and warehouse jobs, once a job offer is extended you'll be asked to complete a drug screen and background check; it doesn't use the word conditional. GM's candidate privacy statement (last revised April 2025) says the information it may collect includes, where applicable, the results of pre-hire screenings such as credit, criminal, education and motor vehicle record checks, and past criminal charges or convictions where relevant to the position. It says GM shares information with unnamed background screening suppliers. GM doesn't publish how far back checks look or how long they take.^3,4,5,6

• Criminal history
• Credit
• Education
• Driving record

• How long a background check takes

Does General Motors drug test?

General Motors drug tests applicants. GM's How We Hire page says applicants in each of its three hiring tracks are asked to complete a drug screen after a job offer. Current production worker postings in Lansing, Michigan and Lockport, New York also list drug testing and a background check among GM's hiring requirements. GM's candidate privacy statement lists drug and alcohol testing among the pre-employment screenings whose results it may collect where applicable. GM doesn't say what the screen tests for.^3,4,5,6

Rules for specific jobs

• Production and warehouse jobs

  GM's How We Hire page includes a shorter step list with no interview step, which appears under its production and warehouse tab (the page doesn't label each list): your application is reviewed, and if you qualify you get a job offer and are asked to complete a drug screen and background check. Current production worker postings in Lansing, Michigan and Lockport, New York say applicants must complete GM's hiring requirements, including drug testing and a background check. GM's FAQ says timing depends on the role and the number of candidates but generally runs a couple of weeks from application to offer; that is hiring time for all jobs, not background-check time.³

• Jobs where criminal history is relevant

  GM's candidate privacy statement lists previous criminal charges or convictions, where relevant for the position, among the sensitive information it may collect. It doesn't say which positions that covers or how records are weighed.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.^10,11,12
• 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."^10,11
• You have the right to dispute inaccurate or incomplete information in your background report directly with the company that made it.^10,13
• 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.^14,15
• 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).^14,16

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.^10,13,17
• 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.¹⁸
• 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.^19,20

See whether you can clear your record in your state