Does Walmart hire people with felonies?

What Walmart has said

Walmart says it has fair-chance hiring efforts for formerly incarcerated people and that it was one of the first retailers to remove the criminal-history question from its initial job application. It is listed as a member of the Second Chance Business Coalition. Its applicant privacy notice says Walmart asks applicants to sign a Fair Credit Reporting Act authorization before running a background check, which may cover criminal, employment and education history.

• Second Chance Business Coalition member

  Listed as a member of the Second Chance Business Coalition.¹

• Founding member of the Second Chance Business Coalition

  Walmart was among the 29 companies the coalition named as having joined when it launched on April 26, 2021.²

• Fair-chance statement

  Walmart's May 2024 associate-opportunity report says it supports hiring and advancing formerly incarcerated people through fair-chance employment efforts.³

• Removed the conviction question

  The same report says Walmart was among the first retailers to stop asking about criminal history on its initial job application.³

Does Walmart do background checks?

Walmart runs background checks. Walmart's applicant privacy notice says it gets applicants' consent on a Fair Credit Reporting Act authorization form before requesting a background check, and that checks may cover criminal, employment and education history. It says information comes from unnamed employment background agencies and doesn't say whether the check happens before or after an offer.⁴

• Criminal history
• Past jobs
• Education

• How long a background check takes

Does Walmart drug test?

Walmart hasn't published a drug testing policy. Walmart job postings say the company keeps a drug-free workplace with no tolerance for illegal drug use, but we found no Walmart page saying whether store or warehouse applicants take a pre-employment drug test. Commercial truck drivers fall under federal DOT testing rules (see role notes).⁵

Hiring programs

• Empowering a Better Tomorrow scholarship powered by Walmart

  A 2021 scholarship run with the NAACP for formerly incarcerated people and people who have completed their sentences. It is an education program; Walmart's announcement doesn't connect it to hiring at Walmart.⁶

• Second-chance hiring pilots (Walmart.org Center for Racial Equity, criminal justice Shared Value Network)

  A 2021 Walmart update said a business-leader network it convenes was working on second-chance hiring pilots for formerly incarcerated people. The update doesn't say where the pilots ran or what came of them.⁷

Rules for specific jobs

• Store jobs at locations that sell firearms

  Walmart postings say jobs at stores that sell firearms require a firearms-specific criminal background check and firearms training. This is one posting (Coach/Ops Manager Trainee, Longview, WA).⁵

• Walmart private-fleet truck drivers (Class A CDL)

  Walmart's driver page requires a Class A CDL with a Hazmat endorsement (which involves a background check), or getting one within 120 days of hire, plus a limited record of moving violations and no preventable accidents over set periods.⁸

• Commercial drivers in DOT-regulated jobs

  Federal rules require a negative pre-employment drug test before a CDL driver first performs safety-sensitive work for an employer.⁹

• Facility services jobs that involve driving (DOT)

  One posting (Technician, Facility Services, Exterior Services-DOT, Springville/Hamburg, NY) requires passing a motor vehicle record check, no alcohol- or drug-related driving convictions in the last three years, and a DOT physical during the pre-hire contingency.¹⁰

• Sam's Club (a Walmart company)

  Sam's Club has its own applicant privacy notice with the same FCRA authorization and background-check language. Sam's Club is not listed separately on the Second Chance Business Coalition list; the membership is listed under Walmart.¹¹

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.^14,15,16
• 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."^14,15
• You have the right to dispute inaccurate or incomplete information in your background report directly with the company that made it.^14,17
• 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.^18,19
• 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).^18,20

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.^14,17,21
• 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.²²
• 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.^23,24

See whether you can clear your record in your state