Does PetSmart hire people with felonies?

What PetSmart has said

PetSmart's careers FAQ says it runs background checks on all associates but that a prior conviction won't keep anyone from being considered or contacted for a job they may fit. The same FAQ says PetSmart doesn't drug test as part of its pre-employment checks, though it keeps a drug-free workplace. PetSmart is not a Second Chance Business Coalition member, and we found no second-chance hiring program. Its store and distribution-center postings carry a fair-chance notice that applies only to applicants in Waterloo, San Francisco and Los Angeles.

• Careers FAQ

  Answering a question about whether it hires people with felony convictions, PetSmart's careers FAQ says it performs background checks on all associates but that a prior conviction will not stop anyone from being considered or contacted for an open role they may be a good match for.¹

• Local fair-chance notice

  PetSmart store and distribution-center postings we read in more than 10 states say that, for applicants in its Waterloo, San Francisco or Los Angeles locations, it will consider qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records under those cities' fair-chance laws. The notice is limited to those places by its own wording, so it is a legal notice, not a company-wide policy. Corporate postings we read don't carry it.²

Does PetSmart do background checks?

PetSmart runs background checks. PetSmart's careers FAQ says it performs background checks on all associates, and its distribution-center FAQ says new hires must pass a background check before onboarding. PetSmart's associate privacy policy, which covers job applicants, lists background check services as a source of information where applicable and permitted by law. PetSmart doesn't say what the check covers, who runs it, or, outside distribution centers, when in the hiring process it happens.^1,3

• How long a background check takes

Does PetSmart drug test?

PetSmart doesn't drug test for most roles before hiring. PetSmart's careers FAQ says that while PetSmart remains a drug-free workplace, it does not drug test as part of its pre-employment checks.¹

Rules for specific jobs

• Distribution center jobs

  PetSmart's careers FAQ says people hired at a distribution center must pass a background check, and be able to do the job's essential functions, before onboarding. The distribution-center postings we read (Groveport, Ohio; Bethel, Pennsylvania; Newnan, Georgia; Reno, Nevada; Phoenix, Arizona; Ottawa, Illinois) don't add other screening details.¹

• Store jobs (minimum age)

  PetSmart's careers FAQ says store applicants in the U.S. must be over 18, except in Montana or where the law requires otherwise.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.^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