Does Papa John's hire people with felonies?

What Papa John's has said

We found no Papa John's statement on hiring people with criminal records, and it is not a Second Chance Business Coalition member. Its careers FAQ says the hiring process may include background checks for some positions, without saying which. Its job site carries postings for corporate-owned restaurants and, according to the FAQ, franchise restaurants, whose owners set their own employment terms; the postings we read are mixed: several mention a criminal background check (one Louisville CDL driver posting lists criminal background among its compliance requirements), and others say nothing about screening.

We didn't find a public statement from Papa John's about hiring people with records: not on its careers site, in its reports, or in its announcements. That doesn't mean it won't hire you. It means there's nothing on the record to point to.

Does Papa John's do background checks?

Papa John's runs background checks for some roles. Papa John's careers FAQ says its hiring process may include background checks for some positions and doesn't say which positions. The postings we read vary: shift leader postings in Kokomo, Indiana and Champaign, Illinois say employment is contingent on satisfactory background check results; Longview, Texas assistant general manager and delivery driver postings mention criminal background and motor vehicle record checks; one Class A CDL driver posting in Louisville lists meeting company requirements on MVR, DOT, CSA and criminal background; and a Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio assistant manager posting, which describes itself as from a franchisee's group of Akron-area stores, asks for the ability to pass a criminal background check. Other postings we read, including Chicago and Philadelphia delivery driver postings and team member postings in California, Georgia, Ohio and North Carolina, don't mention a background check. We found no applicant privacy or background-check notice, so the screening company, lookback period and exact timing are not published.^1,2,3,4,5,6

• Criminal history
• Driving record

• How long a background check takes

Does Papa John's drug test?

Papa John's hasn't published a drug testing policy. We found no Papa John's careers page, FAQ or posting that mentions a drug test for restaurant, delivery or distribution jobs. Federal drug testing rules for CDL drivers are noted separately under role notes.

Rules for specific jobs

• Franchise restaurant jobs

  Papa John's careers FAQ says the job site features jobs at both corporate-owned locations and franchise restaurants, and that franchise restaurants are independently owned and operated, so pay, benefits and employment policies may differ; the site's footer says employees of franchised restaurants are not employees of Papa John's corporate and that each franchisee sets employment terms. At least one posting we read (Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio) is from a franchisee. Screening at a franchised restaurant is up to that franchisee, and we couldn't tell which other listed restaurants are franchised.¹

• Class A CDL drivers

  (federal rule) FMCSA says CDL drivers operating commercial motor vehicles on public roads are generally subject to DOT drug and alcohol testing, and an employer must receive a negative drug test result before the driver operates a commercial vehicle. Papa John's CDL postings (we read ones in Louisville, KY and several other states) list compliance with MVR, DOT, CSA and criminal background requirements; they don't describe the drug test.⁷

• Delivery drivers

  Delivery driver postings we read ask for a valid license, insurance, a reliable vehicle and an acceptable driving record (Hialeah, Florida; Allentown, Pennsylvania; Longview, Texas); a Longview posting also names criminal background and MVR checks. A Hialeah, Florida posting says the driving record does not have to be 'squeaky clean' and that requirements may vary.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.^16,17,18
• 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."^16,17
• You have the right to dispute inaccurate or incomplete information in your background report directly with the company that made it.^16,19
• 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.^20,21
• 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).^20,22

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.^16,19,23
• 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.²⁴
• 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.^25,26

See whether you can clear your record in your state