Does WM (Waste Management) hire people with felonies?

What WM (Waste Management) has said

WM hasn't published a background check or criminal-record hiring policy that we could find. Its April 2026 Code of Conduct sets a zero-tolerance approach to drugs and alcohol in the workplace. A May 2026 federal FMCSA notice shows WM's commercial drivers are covered by DOT drug-testing rules: FMCSA denied WM's request for broad exemptions from pre-employment drug testing and granted only limited relief for drivers moving between WM affiliates.

We didn't find a public statement from WM (Waste Management) 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 WM (Waste Management) do background checks?

WM (Waste Management) hasn't said publicly whether it runs background checks. WM's careers site loads job content by script, and none of the WM pages we could read (Code of Conduct, privacy notices) describe a pre-employment background check.

• How long a background check takes

Does WM (Waste Management) drug test?

WM (Waste Management) drug tests for some roles. WM's commercial drivers fall under federal DOT drug and alcohol testing, including pre-employment and random testing; a 2026 FMCSA decision on WM's exemption request confirms WM runs DOT testing pools for its drivers. WM hasn't published whether it tests applicants for other jobs. Its Code of Conduct bans working under the influence and takes a zero-tolerance approach to drugs and alcohol at work.^1,2,3

Rules for specific jobs

• CDL truck drivers (collection, roll-off and other commercial vehicles)

  Federal FMCSA rules require a negative pre-employment drug test before a CDL driver operates a commercial motor vehicle, plus random, post-accident and other tests. In May 2026 FMCSA denied WM's request for broad exemptions from pre-employment drug testing and Clearinghouse requirements, granting a limited two-year exemption only for drivers transferring between WM affiliates who were in a WM random testing pool in the prior 12 months.¹

• Any CDL driving job

  FMCSA says all CDL drivers who operate commercial motor vehicles on public roads are subject to DOT drug and alcohol testing, and an employer must receive a negative drug test before the driver operates a commercial vehicle.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.^5,6,7
• 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."^5,6
• You have the right to dispute inaccurate or incomplete information in your background report directly with the company that made it.^5,8
• 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.^9,10
• 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).^9,11

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.^5,8,12
• 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.¹³
• 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.^14,15

See whether you can clear your record in your state