Does Lowe's hire people with felonies?

What Lowe's has said

Lowe's runs a second-chance hiring program, Bright & Blue Futures, that it says works with reentry organizations in all 50 states to place people with justice-system involvement in jobs. Lowe's says candidates in the program go through background checks and individualized assessments. Lowe's is listed as a member of the Second Chance Business Coalition. Its careers site says pre-employment screens happen after you accept a job offer.

• Second Chance Business Coalition member

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

• Second-chance hiring program

  Lowe's 2025 Impact and Culture Report describes Bright & Blue Futures as a second-chance hiring program launched in 2021 that works through more than 100 vetted reentry partners.²

Does Lowe's do background checks?

Lowe's runs background checks after a job offer. Lowe's careers site says that once you accept an offer you must complete pre-employment screens, and orientation is scheduled after they're done. Its applicant privacy statement lists background checks and criminal record information among data it may get from third parties, and its 2025 report says Bright & Blue Futures candidates get background checks and individualized assessments.^2,3,4

• Criminal history

• How long a background check takes

Does Lowe's drug test?

Lowe's 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.

Hiring programs

• Bright & Blue Futures

  Lowe's second-chance hiring program, started in 2021, which takes referrals from reentry partner organizations in all 50 states. Lowe's says partners offer training, counseling and other support before and after placement, and candidates still go through background checks and individualized assessments. Lowe's reports about 12,000 hires through the program in 2025.²

Rules for specific jobs

• Store, warehouse, corporate and technology roles

  Lowe's says the same order applies across these job families: offer, then pre-employment screens after you accept, then orientation. Its FAQ says store roles typically take around two weeks from application to offer.⁵

• Applicants coming through a reentry organization

  Lowe's says Bright & Blue Futures candidates are identified through partner organizations and reentry programs, and that it offers job opportunities to people who complete those programs.⁶

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.^9,10,11
• 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."^9,10
• You have the right to dispute inaccurate or incomplete information in your background report directly with the company that made it.^9,12
• 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.^13,14
• 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).^13,15

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.^9,12,16
• 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.¹⁷
• 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.^18,19

See whether you can clear your record in your state