Does Ross Dress for Less hire people with felonies?

What Ross Dress for Less has said

Ross Stores says it asks about criminal history only after it has made a job offer, and that for applicants with certain records it reviews the history and any information the applicant provides individually before deciding, even where the law doesn't require it. Ross is not a Second Chance Business Coalition member, and we found no hiring program for people with records. It doesn't publish who runs its checks or a general drug-testing policy; a Los Angeles loss prevention posting says security jobs may need extra screening, including drug and alcohol testing, where the law requires it.

• Company statement

  Ross's Hiring, Training, and Advancement page says it seeks criminal history only after an offer is extended, so it can consider more applicants, and that it individually assesses certain criminal histories and any added information before deciding, even where not legally required.¹

• Company report

  Ross's 2024 Corporate Social Responsibility Report (page 14) repeats the post-offer timing and the individualized assessment.²

• Fair chance law notice

  Los Angeles postings say applicants with arrest or conviction records will be considered under the San Francisco, City of Los Angeles and Los Angeles County fair-chance ordinances and the California Fair Chance Act. This is legally required wording for those places.³

Does Ross Dress for Less do background checks?

Ross Dress for Less runs background checks after a job offer. Ross says it seeks criminal history information only after extending a job offer, then individually reviews certain records. Its Los Angeles postings list job duties that, for work in unincorporated Los Angeles County, could lead it to withdraw a conditional offer. Ross doesn't name a screening company, a lookback period or what else the check covers.^1,3

• Criminal history

• How long a background check takes

Does Ross Dress for Less drug test?

Ross Dress for Less hasn't published a drug testing policy. We found no Ross page saying whether store or distribution-center applicants take a pre-employment drug test. One Los Angeles loss prevention posting says security roles may require drug and alcohol testing where laws for security positions require it (see role notes).⁴

Rules for specific jobs

• Loss prevention agents (security roles)

  A Los Angeles loss prevention agent posting says the job requires meeting federal and state rules for security positions, which can include extra background screening, a physical exam, fingerprinting and drug and alcohol testing.⁴

• Jobs in unincorporated Los Angeles County

  Ross postings list the duties it says could relate to a record and lead to withdrawing a conditional offer there: working with customers, including minors, and handling cash, card data, company property and confidential information.³

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