Does Shipt Hire Felons? Sometimes - Here’s What To Do

Shipt will sometimes hire felons and others with more minor offenses, like misdemeanors.

That said, Shipt doesn’t simply hire everyone that comes in through their application process. A step in the Shipt application process is a background check. Although a fully clean result on your background check likely means you are good to go, having something on your record does not necessarily sink your chances with Shipt.

Please note: this post is about applying to one of Shipt’s gig roles, like Shopper or Delivery Driver, not an employee at Shipt’s corporate office (like customer support or software engineer).

What kinds of felony offenses are not dealbreakers for Shipt?

If you are worried about a felony offense on your record, there are two ways to think about whether it will impact your Shipt application.

1. Will my felony offense show up on Shipt’s background check report at all?
2. Is the nature of felony offense and how long ago it was going to be concerning to Shipt?

Will my felony offense show up on Shipt’s background check report at all? 

If your felony offense doesn’t show up in Shipt’s background check, you have nothing to worry about.

Unfortunately, it is difficult to predict whether your offense will or will not show up in the background check. Sometimes, the check will simply miss collecting data from the source where your record lives.

Other times, the record may be old enough to be excluded by reports. Although the commonly known lookback period is known to be 3-10 years based on the type of offense, some records will show up in a report later than 10 years - and then it is up to Shipt to decide what to do with it. 

Have you considered trying to get your offense expunged or sealed?

A more surefire way to prevent your record from getting into Shipt’s hands is to get your record officially off the books.

An expungement of your offense would mean it gets removed from the record, as if it never existed. This is not possible in all states, but it may be in yours.

States that don’t offer expungement may still allow for sealing felony offenses. A sealed offense still exists, but its contents won’t be surfaced to many inquiring parties (like Shipt’s background check process).

If you’re able to get your offense expunged or sealed, Shipt won’t have any cause to claim your record as grounds for denying your application. 

Is the nature of felony offense and how long ago it was going to be concerning to Shipt?

If the contents of your felony offense make it into Shipt’s hands, all hope is not lost. Shipt may still decide that the nature of the offense - or the length of time that has passed since the offense - does not justify denying your application.

Sometimes, Shipt may be forced to do this for legal reasons. If sufficient time has passed since the offense, some states don’t allow the offense to be used as grounds for denying an application if the offense is not directly related to the line of work.

Do note: Shipt has to follow the local laws of your state, not Alabama, the state in which Shipt itself is headquartered.

Your last thread of hope is lean on Shipt’s own interpretation of your offense. A smaller offense - such as a misdemeanor - is less likely to raise red flags than a felony. A theft charge would raise more red flags than most other charges, given you will be trusted with customer deliveries in the process of working for Shipt. 

If you are denied, try appealing the decision with Shipt

Many Shipt shoppers report that they initially had their application denied on the grounds of their record, and they were able to change Shipt’s mind by starting a conversation with them.

So if you are denied, contact Shipt support and explain your situation. Explain to them why you believe your offense is not a fair reflection of how you would be as a Shipt worker. Offer to submit paperwork regarding remediation like rehabilitation paperwork and mitigating circumstances relevant to the charges that came up on your background check.

If you land on a helpful customer support person, they just may be able to get you through the door. 

Shipt may perform extra background checks in the future, after you start

If you incur some felony offense - or even a misdemeanor - after you’ve previously passed the background check process, Shipt may become aware of this when they run some of their ongoing background checks.

If you’re unlucky, they may determine that the new offense justifies revoking your ability to work for Shipt. You will be notified via the mobile app that this is the case.

There’s no harm in applying

It’s often hard to predict what exactly will show up on Shipt’s background check. If you’ve tried to get the offense expunged already, the worst that can happen is that they uncover something and just deny your application. In the best case, nothing shows up and you’re free to start shopping.

Get started by applying to be a Shopper or applying to be a Driver.