How to Find a Job With a Criminal Record: Rights and Disclosure

Getting hired with a conviction on your record is a sequence, not a single conversation: pull your own record and fix what’s wrong, use expungement or sealing where you qualify, learn which laws limit what employers can ask and how they can use what they find, rule out industries with hard federal bars, and walk into interviews ready to talk about the conviction briefly and point to incentives that make hiring you easier. That is how to find a job with a criminal record without losing months to applications that were never going to move forward.

Pull Your Own Record First

Before you send a single application, get the same information a background check company will find. The FBI compiles arrests and convictions reported by law enforcement agencies nationwide into what it calls an Identity History Summary, often called a rap sheet. You request it by submitting fingerprints and a fee directly to the FBI.¹ Most states run their own repositories too, and pulling both gives you the fullest picture.

Read the report line by line. The distinction that matters most is between an arrest and a conviction. An arrest means you were taken into custody; it is not a finding of guilt. The disposition field tells you how each case ended. If it shows a dismissal, acquittal, or nolle prosequi, that event is not a conviction, and you have stronger protections against employers using it against you.

Errors are common. Names get misspelled, dispositions go unreported, and dropped charges sometimes appear as open cases. Fixing a mistake before a hiring manager sees it is far easier than explaining a discrepancy after the fact. Contact the court or arresting agency that reported the incorrect information and keep documentation of every step.

What Employers Can Legally See

Most employers don’t pull records from the FBI. They hire a consumer reporting agency, the legal term for a commercial background check company, which compiles information from court records, corrections databases, and other public sources. Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, an employer must give you a clear written disclosure that a background check will be run and get your written authorization before ordering it.² No employer can legally run your background without telling you first.

Federal law also limits how far back these reports reach. Arrests that did not result in a conviction cannot be reported after seven years from the arrest date. Convictions have no federal time limit and can be reported indefinitely. One exception matters: the seven-year cap on non-conviction records does not apply to positions with an annual salary of $75,000 or more.³ Some states set stricter limits, including caps on how long convictions can be reported.

If an employer decides against hiring you based on the report, they cannot simply reject you and move on. Federal law requires a two-step process. First, the employer must send you a pre-adverse action notice that includes a copy of the report and a written summary of your rights.² That window is your chance to dispute anything inaccurate before the decision becomes final. If you spot an error, contact the background check company immediately.

Clean Up What You Can

If your record contains entries that can be removed or hidden, doing that before a job search is usually worth the time and money. Two main tools exist in most places: expungement and record sealing. Expungement treats the record as though the event never happened. Sealing restricts access so most private employers and background check companies cannot see it. Both typically require filing a petition with the court and paying filing fees, which range from nothing in some jurisdictions to several hundred dollars.

Eligibility rules vary. Most require that you’ve completed your sentence, including probation or parole, and stayed crime-free for a waiting period. Some jurisdictions let you file as soon as supervision ends; others require several clean years first. The type of offense matters too, and many states exclude violent felonies or sex offenses entirely. An attorney or legal aid organization can tell you quickly whether your conviction qualifies, and some courts have self-help resources for filing without a lawyer.

Several states also offer certificates that formally recognize rehabilitation without erasing the record. Names vary by state. The practical effect is that these certificates can remove automatic disqualifications for professional licenses and give employers a legal basis to hire you without liability concerns. Eligibility usually turns on the number and severity of convictions, post-conviction conduct, and supporting evidence like employment history or education.

Ban-the-Box, Fair Chance, and How Employers Must Weigh a Record

At least 37 states, the District of Columbia, and over 150 cities and counties have adopted ban-the-box policies that take conviction history questions off job applications.⁴ The idea is that employers consider your qualifications first and ask about criminal history later, typically after an interview or a conditional offer. Coverage varies; some laws apply only to government employers, others reach private companies above a certain size.

For federal work, the Fair Chance to Compete for Jobs Act bars Executive Branch agencies and federal contractors from asking about criminal history before extending a conditional offer. Positions requiring security clearances, law enforcement roles, and sensitive national security jobs are exempt.⁵ Most civilian federal jobs are covered.

Even where no ban-the-box law applies, employers face limits on how they use what they find. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s enforcement guidance says blanket policies that disqualify everyone with a conviction are likely to violate Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, because they disproportionately affect certain racial groups without being tied to job performance.⁶ The EEOC expects employers to weigh three factors drawn from a 1975 federal court decision known as the Green factors:

The nature and gravity of the offense. A shoplifting conviction carries different weight than a fraud conviction for a finance role.
The time that has passed since the conviction or completion of the sentence.
The nature of the job, and whether the conviction has a reasonable connection to its duties.

Beyond those factors, the EEOC recommends an individualized assessment rather than an automatic screen. The employer should notify you that your record may disqualify you and give you a chance to add context. You can present rehabilitation evidence, steady employment history, education completed since the conviction, character references, or proof that you’re bonded under a federal or state program.⁶ A decade-old misdemeanor unrelated to the job should not cost you the offer, and if it does, the employer may be exposed to a discrimination complaint.

Industries With Hard Federal Bars

Some sectors have federal disqualifications that override state fair-chance laws. Knowing these before you apply saves time.

Healthcare

The Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General maintains an exclusion list that bars individuals from participating in Medicare, Medicaid, and other federal healthcare programs. Convictions that trigger mandatory exclusion include Medicare or Medicaid fraud, patient abuse or neglect, felony healthcare-related fraud or theft, and felony convictions for unlawful manufacture or distribution of controlled substances.⁷ A provider that hires an excluded person risks losing its own federal reimbursement, which produces a near-total bar from clinical healthcare work.

Banking

Federal law prohibits anyone convicted of a crime involving dishonesty, breach of trust, or money laundering from working at any FDIC-insured bank or savings institution without prior written consent from the FDIC. Certain offenses listed in the statute, including bank fraud, embezzlement from a financial institution, and money laundering, carry a minimum ten-year waiting period before the FDIC will even consider granting an exception.⁸

Port and Transportation Security

Work at ports, on vessels, or in other secure transportation facilities requires a Transportation Worker Identification Credential. Certain felonies permanently disqualify you, including espionage, treason, federal terrorism offenses, and murder. A longer list, including weapons offenses, robbery, arson, drug distribution, and fraud, disqualifies you if the conviction happened within seven years of your application or you were released from incarceration within five years.⁹ Once those windows close, the conviction no longer automatically bars you.

Occupational Licensing Rules Have Changed

Licensing has historically been one of the biggest barriers in trades like cosmetology, plumbing, nursing, and real estate, because boards routinely denied applicants under vague “good moral character” standards. Since 2015, at least 40 states and the District of Columbia have enacted reforms limiting how licensing boards can use criminal records.¹⁰

Common reforms require boards to show that a conviction is directly related to the licensed occupation before denying an application, prohibit consideration of arrests that did not lead to conviction, set time limits so older convictions cannot be used as grounds for denial, and bar the use of sealed or expunged records.¹⁰ About 21 states also allow you to petition a licensing board before enrolling in training, so you can learn upfront whether your record would be disqualifying. Check your state’s rules before paying tuition.

Handling the Disclosure Conversation

Sooner or later the conviction will come up, either at the interview stage or after a conditional offer triggers the background check. When it does, be honest. Lying about a criminal record on a job application is grounds for termination in virtually every state, even if you’ve been performing well for months. Most employment is at-will, so an employer who discovers a misrepresentation can fire you without further justification. The background check will surface the truth anyway.

A prepared, brief explanation works better. Acknowledge what happened, take responsibility without over-explaining, and pivot to what you’ve done since: training completed, certifications earned, steady work, a certificate of rehabilitation. The EEOC’s guidance names post-conviction employment history, education, rehabilitation efforts, and character references as evidence employers should consider.⁶ Framing your response around those categories keeps the conversation on ground the employer is already expected to evaluate.

Mentioning that you know about the Federal Bonding Program or hiring tax credits can shift the tone. Instead of asking an employer to take a chance, you’re pointing to financial incentives and risk protection built into the hire.

Incentives That Make Hiring You Easier

Work Opportunity Tax Credit

The Work Opportunity Tax Credit gives employers a direct federal tax credit for hiring from certain target groups, including people with felony convictions. For most eligible hires, the credit equals 40 percent of the first $6,000 in qualified wages, a maximum credit of $2,400 per employee in the first year. The employee must work at least 400 hours to qualify for the full rate; between 120 and 400 hours, the credit drops to 25 percent.¹¹ The credit was authorized through December 31, 2025, so confirm with the IRS or a tax professional whether Congress has extended it before relying on it in conversations with employers. Some states add their own hiring credits on top.

Federal Bonding Program

The Federal Bonding Program, administered by the Department of Labor, provides fidelity bonds to employers who hire people considered at-risk, including those with criminal records. The bond is free to the employer, takes effect on the first day of work, and covers the first six months. Coverage is issued in $5,000 increments up to $25,000 and protects the employer against losses from employee dishonesty.¹² For roles that require bonding, this removes what would otherwise be an impossible barrier, since most people with records can’t get a commercial fidelity bond on their own.

Where to Find Employers Who Actually Hire

The American Job Center network runs roughly 2,300 locations across the country, funded by the Department of Labor, offering career counseling, job listings, training referrals, and placement assistance.¹³ Many centers have staff who specialize in working with justice-involved job seekers and can help you handle bonding, tax credit certification paperwork, and employer connections that never make it to general job boards. Find your nearest center through the Department of Labor’s online locator.

The Department of Labor’s Reentry Employment Opportunities program funds grants for justice-involved individuals, including a current initiative called RESTART focused on skilled trades, advanced manufacturing, and registered apprenticeships.¹⁴ These programs combine skills assessment, pre-apprenticeship training, and direct placement in in-demand fields. Eligibility covers youth, young adults, and adults with criminal records or former incarceration.

Some major corporations have publicly committed to fair-chance hiring through the Fair Chance Business Pledge, agreeing to delay criminal history questions, evaluate records in context, and remove unnecessary barriers.¹⁵ Specialized job boards also list employers that have opted in to fair-chance hiring, letting you filter by record type and location. Targeting employers who have already committed to consider applicants like you, and leading with your qualifications rather than your record, is where most successful reentry searches gain traction.

1
Federal Bureau of Investigation. Identity History Summary Checks Frequently Asked Questions
2
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1681b – Permissible Purposes of Consumer Reports
3
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 USC 1681c – Requirements Relating to Information Contained in Consumer Reports
4
National Employment Law Project. Ban the Box: US Cities, Counties, and States Adopt Fair Hiring Policies
5
U.S. Department of the Interior. Fair Chance to Compete Act
6
U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Enforcement Guidance on the Consideration of Arrest and Conviction Records in Employment Decisions Under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act
7
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General. Background Information
8
GovInfo. 12 USC 1829 – Penalty for Unauthorized Participation by Convicted Individual
9
eCFR. 49 CFR 1572.103 – Disqualifying Criminal Offenses
10
Institute for Justice. State Occupational Licensing Reforms for Workers With Criminal Records
11
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 51 – Amount of Credit
12
U.S. Department of Labor. Training and Employment Notice No 14-13
13
U.S. Department of Labor. American Job Centers
14
U.S. Department of Labor. Reentry Employment Opportunities
15
The White House (Archives). FACT SHEET: White House Launches the Fair Chance Business Pledge