Does Wendy's hire people with felonies?

What Wendy's has said

Wendy's careers site lists jobs at company-owned restaurants and at some franchise-owned restaurants, and says Wendy's has no control over employment matters for franchisee roles. For applicants to Wendy's itself, its careers privacy policy says it may use a service provider for employment or education verification, criminal record checks and motor vehicle reports. We found no Wendy's statement on hiring people with criminal records, and Wendy's is not on the Second Chance Business Coalition member list.

We didn't find a public statement from Wendy's 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 Wendy's do background checks?

Wendy's runs background checks. Wendy's careers privacy policy (effective January 1, 2023) says that when you apply with Wendy's, it may use a service provider to collect what it calls credit report information, such as employment or education verification, a criminal record check and motor vehicle reports, and that it may use applicant information to contact references and run background checks. It doesn't say which jobs get which checks, when checks happen, or how results are weighed. The policy doesn't cover franchise jobs.¹

• Criminal history
• Past jobs
• Education
• Driving record

• How long a background check takes

Does Wendy's drug test?

Wendy's hasn't published a drug testing policy. Wendy's careers privacy policy and the crew posting we opened don't mention drug testing.

Rules for specific jobs

• Crew and managers at franchise-owned Wendy's restaurants

  Wendy's says franchise jobs are posted on its site at the franchisee's option, that choosing one takes you to a site run by the franchisee, that franchisees make all hiring decisions for their restaurants, and that Wendy's doesn't share applicant information with franchisees. Ask the franchisee about its screening.¹

• Company-owned restaurants and corporate or field jobs

  Wendy's careers site says its listed benefits and details apply to employees of The Wendy's Company and its company-owned and operated restaurants, and that Wendy's has no control over employment matters for franchisee roles. Applicants to Wendy's itself fall under the careers privacy policy described above.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