Does Smithfield Foods hire people with felonies?

What Smithfield Foods has said

Smithfield Foods hasn't published a policy on hiring people with records that we could find. One of its commercial driver postings says candidates must pass a background check, drug screen and physical to meet DOT requirements, and other driver postings ask for an acceptable driving record; its privacy supplement lists background check providers among the sources of job applicant information. The production and farm postings we read don't describe any screening.

We didn't find a public statement from Smithfield Foods 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 Smithfield Foods do background checks?

Smithfield Foods runs background checks for some roles. Smithfield's commercial driver postings require an acceptable driving record, and one of them says candidates must pass a background check as part of DOT requirements. Smithfield's U.S. privacy supplement says it may get information about job applicants from credit reporting and background check service providers. Smithfield doesn't say which other roles are checked, what a check covers, or when it happens.^1,2

• Driving record

• How long a background check takes

Does Smithfield Foods drug test?

Smithfield Foods drug tests for some roles. One commercial driver posting says candidates must pass a drug screen to meet DOT requirements; other driver postings we checked don't mention one. None of the production or farm postings we read mentions drug testing, and Smithfield hasn't published a company-wide policy.¹

Rules for specific jobs

• Commercial drivers (DOT-regulated)

  A CDL driver posting asks for a valid Class A or B commercial license, at least a year of CDL driving, an acceptable driving record, and passing a background check, drug screen and physical to meet DOT requirements. Other Smithfield CDL postings we checked ask for an acceptable driving record and a DOT medical card but don't mention a background check or drug screen.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.^6,7,8
• 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."^6,7
• You have the right to dispute inaccurate or incomplete information in your background report directly with the company that made it.^6,9
• 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.^10,11
• 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).^10,12

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.^6,9,13
• 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.¹⁴
• 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.^15,16

See whether you can clear your record in your state