Does Microsoft hire people with felonies?

What Microsoft has said

Microsoft is listed as a member of the Second Chance Business Coalition and was named among the companies that joined when it launched in April 2021. One Microsoft posting we read says the company considers qualified applicants regardless of criminal histories, consistent with legal requirements. Many Microsoft cloud, hardware and data center postings require passing a Microsoft Cloud Background Check on hire or transfer and every two years after, and Microsoft's Azure Government documentation says its U.S. Azure staff are checked for criminal history going back seven years. A few data center postings add a criminal-justice-information (CJIS) check. We found no published drug-test policy.

• Second Chance Business Coalition member

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

• Founding member of the Second Chance Business Coalition

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

• Statement in a job posting

  One posting (Software Engineer II, listed for Redmond, Washington and Reston, Virginia) says Microsoft also considers qualified applicants regardless of criminal histories, consistent with legal requirements. The other 59 postings we read did not have that sentence.³

Does Microsoft do background checks?

Microsoft runs background checks for some roles. 39 of the 60 Microsoft U.S. postings we read, and all 20 more we sampled on Oct 31, say the role must pass a Microsoft Cloud Background Check on hire or transfer and every two years after; the others, mostly sales, finance and program roles, did not mention a check. Microsoft's Azure Government security page (last updated July 2026) says all Azure and Azure Government employees in the U.S. are subject to Microsoft background checks: a check on hiring that covers education, seven years of employment history, a Social Security number search, seven years of criminal history and U.S. trade-sanctions and debarment lists, and a repeat 'cloud screen' every two years. Microsoft has not published, in the pages we read, whether the same check applies to roles outside its cloud business, who runs it, or how records are weighed.^3,4,5

• Criminal history
• Education
• Past jobs

• How long a background check takes

Does Microsoft drug test?

Microsoft 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

• Data center roles with a CJIS requirement

  Several data center postings add a Criminal Justice Information Services check run through state, local or federal agencies. Two (a Data Center Technician in Richmond, Virginia and one in Phoenix, Arizona) say the position requires passing it; three others in Boydton, Virginia say it may be required. Microsoft's Azure Government security page says this CJIS screening applies once Microsoft signs a CJIS agreement with a state and adds a fingerprint check against FBI records plus a criminal records and credit check. It is a government-customer requirement, not a general Microsoft hiring rule.⁶

• Government cloud and security-cleared roles

  Some postings (for example, ones marked CTJ and Top Secret) require security screenings beyond the Microsoft check, including citizenship verification. Microsoft's Azure Government security page says operators of its government cloud also go through a federal Tier 3 Investigation (formerly called a National Agency Check with Law and Credit), a detailed background and criminal history investigation. These are screening steps tied to government customers, not general company policy.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.^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