Does Sonic Drive-In hire people with felonies?

What Sonic Drive-In has said

Sonic's careers site says many Sonic Drive-Ins are owned and operated by independent franchisees who are solely responsible for hiring decisions and all other employment matters, and that Sonic Franchising LLC and its affiliates don't have access to franchisees' employment records. Its parent Inspire Brands publishes a team member and job applicant privacy notice that names Sonic and says it may collect criminal records information, including background check results, and drug screening information. We found no Sonic or Inspire Brands statement on hiring people with criminal records, and Sonic is not on the Second Chance Business Coalition member list.

We didn't find a public statement from Sonic Drive-In 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 Sonic Drive-In do background checks?

Sonic Drive-In hasn't said publicly whether it runs background checks. The only screening language we found is in Inspire Brands' applicant privacy notice (effective January 1, 2023), which names Sonic among its brands and says Inspire may collect criminal records information, including background check results from agencies such as the FBI, and drug screening information about job applicants. It is written around California privacy law and doesn't say which jobs are checked, when, or how results are weighed. Sonic's careers site says franchisees handle all employment matters at their restaurants, so franchise restaurants' practices aren't published.^1,2

• How long a background check takes

Does Sonic Drive-In drug test?

Sonic Drive-In hasn't published a drug testing policy. Inspire Brands' applicant privacy notice lists drug screening information among what it may collect, but it doesn't say which jobs, if any, require a test. We found no Sonic page on drug testing.¹

Rules for specific jobs

• Carhops, cooks and managers at franchisee-owned Drive-Ins

  Sonic's careers site says each franchisee is an independent employer solely responsible for hiring decisions and other employment matters, and that questions about a franchise restaurant should go to the franchisee. The terms 'we' and 'our' on the site refer to whichever corporate or franchise entity runs the Drive-In you apply to. Ask that Drive-In about background checks.²

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.^10,11,12
• 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."^10,11
• You have the right to dispute inaccurate or incomplete information in your background report directly with the company that made it.^10,13
• 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.^14,15
• 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).^14,16

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.^10,13,17
• 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.¹⁸
• 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.^19,20

See whether you can clear your record in your state