Does Wells Fargo hire people with felonies?

What Wells Fargo has said

Wells Fargo hasn't published a statement, program or policy about hiring people with criminal records that we could find on its careers site, and it isn't on the Second Chance Business Coalition member list. Its current banker postings say loan originator roles must meet federal loan-originator requirements and Wells Fargo standards that include criminal background, and a credit report may be reviewed; the banker postings we opened in New York, Florida, Georgia and California carry this, while the technical and corporate postings we opened don't mention screening. Because Wells Fargo is a bank, federal Section 19 rules also limit who an insured bank may hire after certain convictions for dishonesty, breach of trust or money laundering, and federal lending rules add a seven-year felony bar for loan originators; those are federal rules, not Wells Fargo policy.

We didn't find a public statement from Wells Fargo 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 Wells Fargo do background checks?

Wells Fargo runs background checks for some roles. Wells Fargo's careers pages don't describe its background check. Its personal banker, relationship banker, premier banker and wealth banking postings (New York, Florida, Georgia and California among them) say loan originators must meet federal requirements and Wells Fargo standards on financial responsibility, character, fitness and criminal background, that a credit report may be reviewed (credit score not included) and that additional ongoing screening may apply. Relationship and premier banker postings add that the role requires meeting enhanced financial fitness and criminal background standards. The postings don't say when the check happens, who runs it or how far back it looks, and the technical and corporate postings we opened don't mention screening.^{1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8}

• Criminal history

• How long a background check takes

Does Wells Fargo drug test?

Wells Fargo hasn't published a drug testing policy. Every posting we opened carries a link to Wells Fargo's drug and alcohol policy, which describes a drug-free workplace for employees and says that as a federal contractor it bars substances that are legal in a state but illegal under federal law from its workplaces. The policy and the postings we opened don't say whether applicants are tested before hire.^2,9

Rules for specific jobs

• Jobs at FDIC-insured banks (federal rule)

  (federal rule) Under Section 19 of the Federal Deposit Insurance Act (12 U.S.C. 1829), a person convicted of a crime involving dishonesty or breach of trust or money laundering, or who agreed to a pretrial diversion program for one, can't work for an FDIC-insured bank without the FDIC's prior written consent. The statute says the bar does not apply to an offense if 7 or more years have passed since the offense, or 5 or more years since release from incarceration for it; if the person was 21 or younger at the time and more than 30 months have passed since sentencing; if the conviction was expunged or sealed under an order that meant to destroy or seal it; or if the offense is a minor one the FDIC has exempted by rule. Those time exceptions don't apply to certain listed offenses (including some bank fraud, embezzlement, mail and wire fraud affecting financial institutions, and money laundering offenses), which carry a minimum 10-year bar before the FDIC may consent. This is a federal rule that applies to insured banks, not a company policy.¹⁰

• Loan originators, including many personal, relationship, premier and wealth banker roles (federal rule)

  (federal rule) Federal lending rules (12 CFR 1026.36) require a loan originator organization to determine before an individual acts as a loan originator that the individual has not been convicted of, or pleaded guilty or no contest to, a felony in the preceding seven years, or a felony involving fraud, dishonesty, breach of trust or money laundering at any time. Expunged and pardoned convictions don't count, and a conviction doesn't disqualify the person if the employer has the FDIC (or other regulator's) Section 19 consent to employ them.¹¹

• Personal, relationship, premier and wealth bankers (Wells Fargo postings)

  These Wells Fargo postings say loan originators must meet federal requirements and Wells Fargo policies on financial responsibility, character, fitness and criminal background, that a credit report may be reviewed, and that additional ongoing screening may apply. Relationship and premier banker postings also say the role requires enhanced financial fitness and criminal background standards. The postings don't state what the standards are.⁶

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.^18,19,20
• 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."^18,19
• You have the right to dispute inaccurate or incomplete information in your background report directly with the company that made it.^18,21
• 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.^22,23
• 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).^22,24

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.^18,21,25
• 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.²⁶
• 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.^27,28

See whether you can clear your record in your state