Does Marriott hire people with felonies?

What Marriott has said

Marriott hasn't published a policy or statement on hiring people with criminal records, and it isn't on the Second Chance Business Coalition member list. Its applicant privacy statement says the data applicants submit will be used, among other things, to conduct background checks as appropriate if Marriott offers them a position. Postings for California hotels carry a line saying Marriott International considers applicants with criminal histories consistent with applicable law; we didn't see it on postings elsewhere. Many hotels on Marriott's careers site are run by independent franchisees or management companies that are the employer, not Marriott, and set their own screening.

• Local fair-chance notice

  Marriott International postings for California hotels (Camarillo, Torrance and Marina Del Rey among them) say Marriott International considers for employment qualified applicants with criminal histories consistent with applicable federal, state and local law. We found this line only on California postings.¹

Does Marriott do background checks?

Marriott runs background checks after a job offer. Marriott's applicant privacy statement (updated Nov. 19, 2024) lists conducting background checks as appropriate if Marriott offers you a position among its purposes, and says Marriott may get data from a background check report and may share applicant data with background check processors. It doesn't say which jobs are checked, what the check covers, or name a vendor. It also says Marriott may share limited applicant data with owners of Marriott-branded properties it manages. Hotels run by franchisees or other companies may follow their own practices.²

• How long a background check takes

Does Marriott drug test?

Marriott hasn't published a drug testing policy. Marriott hasn't published a company-wide drug testing policy that we found. A few postings for individual hotels in North Carolina and Texas say the hotel maintains a drug-free workplace, without describing testing.

Rules for specific jobs

• Jobs at franchised hotels

  Marriott's careers site carries postings for independently owned franchise hotels. Those postings (for example a Lead Line Cook at a JW Marriott in Austin, TX) say the franchisee is a separate employer from Marriott International, that Marriott has no part in selection and can't see your application, and that you would be employed by the franchisee, not Marriott. About a third of the U.S. postings we sampled in the first pass carried that statement. Marriott's applicant privacy statement speaks for Marriott, and we found no Marriott page on how franchisees screen applicants.³

• Jobs posted by hotel management companies

  Some postings on Marriott's careers site name another company as the employer, for example McKibbon Hospitality for a Hotel Housekeeper posting in Lakeland, FL. That posting says applicants must be able to complete any required background screening as a condition of employment and doesn't describe it further. Postings from other operators may use different wording.⁴

• Jobs at hotels Marriott manages for owners

  Marriott's applicant privacy statement says it may share limited applicant data with the owners of Marriott-branded properties that it manages. We found no page saying whether managed-hotel employees are Marriott employees or the owner's, so check the employer named on the posting.²

• Loss prevention and security officers

  One posting (1st Shift Loss Prevention Officer, Gaylord Opryland Resort, Nashville, TN) says some states may have extra licensing or registration requirements for the role. It doesn't mention a background check or criminal-history wording.⁵

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.^11,12,13
• 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."^11,12
• You have the right to dispute inaccurate or incomplete information in your background report directly with the company that made it.^11,14
• 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.^15,16
• 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).^15,17

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.^11,14,18
• 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.¹⁹
• 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.^20,21

See whether you can clear your record in your state