Does Instacart hire people with felonies?

What Instacart has said

Instacart says prospective shoppers must be 18 or older, hold a valid driver's license and Social Security number, and pass criminal and motor vehicle record checks run by third-party partners including Checkr. It says it refreshes checks to confirm shoppers stay eligible. In the deactivation policy it filed in Colorado, Instacart lists common reasons for failing a check, such as recent felonies, recent serious offenses, pending serious charges and recent driving violations, subject to applicable law.

• Publishes what disqualifies

  Instacart's Colorado deactivation policy lists common reasons a shopper fails a background check and says continued access depends on passing later checks.¹

Does Instacart do background checks?

Instacart runs background checks during onboarding. Instacart says shoppers must pass initial criminal and motor vehicle record checks during sign-up, after onboarding checks confirm age, driver's license and Social Security number. It names Checkr among its third-party screening partners and says it refreshes checks later.²

• Criminal history
• Driving record
• Identity

Instacart names Checkr as its screening company. You can ask Checkr for a copy of any report it prepares about you.²

• How Checkr checks work: status, timing and disputes
• How long a background check takes

Instacart's published screening rules

Screening company

Checkr

Minimum age

18

Checks after you start

periodic re-checks (Instacart says it refreshes checks; frequency not published)

Common reasons Instacart lists for failing a check, subject to applicable law: recent felony offenses, recent serious criminal offenses, serious criminal charges still pending, multiple recent driving violations, recent serious driving violations, and a suspended or invalid driver's license. Instacart doesn't define 'recent'.^1,2,3

Read Instacart's full criteria

Does Instacart drug test?

Instacart hasn't published a drug testing policy. Some job postings say whether a test is required, so check the listing for the role you want.

Rules for specific jobs

• Shoppers in Colorado (policy filed with the state)

  Instacart's Colorado policy says shoppers consent to later background checks and that continued access depends on passing them.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.^4,5,6
• 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."^4,5
• You have the right to dispute inaccurate or incomplete information in your background report directly with the company that made it.^4,7
• 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.^8,9
• 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).^8,10

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.^4,7,11
• 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.¹²
• 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.^13,14

See whether you can clear your record in your state