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Guide10 min read

Job Offer Pulled Over a Background Check: What the Employer Owes You, and What You Can Do

What an employer must give you before and after pulling an offer over a background check, how to fix errors, and where the law protects an accurate record.

If an employer used a background check company, federal law sets steps it must follow before and after it pulls an offer. Before it decides, it must give you a copy of the report and a written summary of your rights, so you can catch mistakes or explain. After it decides, it must tell you which company made the report, and that you can get a free copy and dispute it. Whether it may turn you down for an accurate record is a separate question. Federal law mostly leaves that to the employer; state and city fair chance laws add more.

This guide is for U.S. job applicants who lost an offer, or were told they might, over a criminal background check. The same federal steps apply to keeping a job or a promotion. We checked every source on November 13, 2026, 15 days after the EEOC announced it had withdrawn its guidance on criminal records in hiring.

60 days
to ask the background check company for a free copy
from receiving the employer's notice
30 days
for the company to reinvestigate a dispute
up to 45 if you send new information
180 days
to file a discrimination charge with the EEOC
300 where a state or local agency enforces a similar law

Does the federal background check law cover you?

Yes, if the employer got the report from a screening company. The EEOC and the Federal Trade Commission say: "Special rules apply when an employer gets a background report about you from a company in the business of compiling background information" (EEOC and FTC). That law is the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA). If the employer searched court records itself, the FCRA steps below do not apply. The discrimination rules further down still do, "whether or not the information was in a background report."

Step 1: Before the check, a notice and your permission

The employer must tell you in writing that it may get a report, "in a document that consists solely of the disclosure." You must then authorize the report in writing (15 U.S.C. 1681b(b)(2)). The FTC adds: "You have the right to say no, but if you do, you may not get the job" (FTC).

Step 2: Before the decision, the report and your rights

Before an employer takes "any adverse action based in whole or in part on the report," it must give you "a copy of the report" and a written description of your rights (15 U.S.C. 1681b(b)(3)(A)). Adverse action includes "a denial of employment" (15 U.S.C. 1681a(k)). That description is the CFPB's Summary of Your Rights Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act.

The FTC explains why: "By giving the person the notice in advance, the person has an opportunity to review the report and explain any negative information" (FTC and EEOC).

In our reading, the law sets no number of days the employer must wait, and does not require it to change its mind. Some state laws do more; California's is below.

When you have the report:

  • Check that every entry is yours and every outcome is right. A dismissed case listed as a conviction is wrong; one listed without its dismissal or sealing is incomplete.
  • Compare it with your own record, using our guide to checking your own record.
  • Tell the employer about any mistake. As the EEOC and FTC put it: "You also should tell the employer about the mistake."

Step 3: After the decision, the adverse action notice

If the employer goes ahead, it must tell you, orally, in writing or electronically (15 U.S.C. 1681m(a)):

  • the name, address and phone number of the background check company;
  • that the company "did not make the decision" and cannot give you the specific reasons;
  • that you can get a free copy from that company if you ask within 60 days of receiving the notice (15 U.S.C. 1681j(b));
  • that you can dispute "the accuracy or completeness" of anything in it.

If an employer skipped a notice, the FTC asks you to report it at ReportFraud.ftc.gov, along with any report pulled "without your permission" (FTC).

If the report is wrong: dispute it with the company that made it

Send your dispute to the company named in the notice. It must reinvestigate "free of charge" and finish within 30 days of receiving your dispute, or up to 15 days more if you send relevant new information during those 30 days (15 U.S.C. 1681i(a)). An item found "inaccurate or incomplete," or that "cannot be verified," must be deleted or corrected. The results come in writing within 5 business days after the company finishes.

Ask that the corrected report go to the employer, as the FTC suggests. At your request, the company must notify anyone you name who got your report for a job in the past two years (15 U.S.C. 1681i(d)). If the item stays, you may file "a brief statement" of your side, which the company may limit to 100 words (15 U.S.C. 1681i(b)).

Dispute with the company before you complain to the CFPB, which says: "You are required by law to first dispute the information directly with the credit or consumer reporting agency" (CFPB). Our step-by-step dispute guide has a sample letter and company contacts.

Old records. The FCRA bars reporting "records of arrest" more than seven years old, or until the statute of limitations runs out if that is longer. Its catch-all seven-year limit leaves out "records of convictions of crimes" (15 U.S.C. 1681c(a)). None of these limits apply to a job whose salary "equals, or which may reasonably be expected to equal $75,000, or more" (15 U.S.C. 1681c(b)). So when the Summary of Your Rights says that "in most cases" older negative information cannot be reported, that does not cover convictions under federal law. State law can add limits. Our guide to how far back background checks go explains which dates count.

If the report is right: can they still say no?

Yes, within limits. The EEOC says: "Employers can consider criminal records when they make the final decision about hiring. But employers cannot treat people differently because of their race or national origin" (EEOC).

Federal law. Title VII of the Civil Rights Act makes it unlawful to refuse to hire someone "because of such individual's race, color, religion, sex, or national origin" (42 U.S.C. 2000e-2(a)). The EEOC says it covers private employers with 15 or more employees, and gives this example: "an employer cannot refuse to hire qualified Black men with felony convictions but hire equally-qualified or less-qualified White men with similar felony convictions." A charge generally must be filed within 180 calendar days, or 300 if a state or local agency enforces a law against the same kind of discrimination (EEOC).

Sources: EEOC, press release of October 29, 2026; the guidance as it stood on October 1, 2026, in an archived copy.

State and city fair chance laws. The FTC notes that some cities and states limit what employers can ask about criminal records "and when in the hiring process they can ask those questions." Some also control how the employer decides. Here is California's Fair Chance Act, as its Civil Rights Department describes it (fact sheet):

  • It covers public employers and private employers with five or more employees, with some exceptions. Most cannot run a background check before making a job offer.
  • An employer concerned about a conviction "must do an individualized assessment" of its nature and gravity, the time passed, and the nature of the job.
  • To take back the offer, it must first send a written preliminary decision listing the convictions, with a copy of the report. You get "At least five business days" to respond, and "at least ten days" if you are challenging the report's accuracy.
  • Its final decision must be in writing and tell you that you can file a complaint with the Civil Rights Department.

Your state or city may differ. Look yours up on our background check laws by state pages; the California page has that state's details.

What you can send. The FCRA does not make an employer weigh your explanation, but the time between the notices is when it can. California's fact sheet names "evidence of rehabilitation or mitigating circumstances" such as certificates for finished job training, treatment or education, letters of support, and proof you followed probation or parole rules. In our view that list works anywhere. Some states issue certificates of relief, and some records can be sealed: see our expungement guides by state.

Three sets of rules side by side

RuleWho must follow itWhat it requires before you are turned downWhere to complain
Fair Credit Reporting Act (federal)Any employer that gets your report from a background check companyYour written permission. A copy of the report and the Summary of Your Rights before the decision. A notice after itFTC; the CFPB for the background check company, after disputing with it; or a lawsuit
Title VII (federal)Private employers with 15 or more employeesNo set steps. It may not treat you differently because of race, color, religion, sex or national originEEOC or your state or local fair employment agency, within 180 or 300 days
California Fair Chance Act (one state)Public employers and private employers with 5 or more employeesAn individualized assessment. A written preliminary decision with the report. At least 5 business days to respond. A final decision in writingCalifornia Civil Rights Department
Which rule does what when a background check costs you a job. Checked November 13, 2026.

Sources for the table: the FCRA, Title VII, FTC, CFPB, EEOC and California pages linked above.

When the steps are different

  • Transportation jobs applied for remotely. If you applied by mail, phone or online, with no other contact, for a job regulated by the U.S. Department of Transportation or a state transportation agency, the employer need not give you the report first. It must notify you "within 3 business days of taking such action," with the company's name and your rights (15 U.S.C. 1681b(b)(3)(B)). The Summary of Your Rights adds: "Written consent generally is not required in the trucking industry." See our trucking jobs page.
  • Federal jobs and contractors. "With only certain exceptions, a federal government agency or a federal contractor may not ask whether you have a criminal record until after they have made you a conditional job offer," the EEOC says. See government jobs with a record.
  • Jobs a law closes to some convictions. The EEOC notes that "some laws prohibit employers from hiring people with certain criminal records for some jobs," such as airport security screening. For licensed work, see our occupational license guide.

Getting help

If a background check company, or "in some cases, a user of consumer reports," breaks the FCRA, "you may be able to sue," says the Summary of Your Rights. The deadline is 2 years after you discover the violation or 5 years after it happened, whichever comes first (15 U.S.C. 1681p). For state and city rules, the EEOC points to your "state or local Fair Employment Practice Agency." Our free legal aid directory lists programs in every state.

Next steps

  • Find both notices, or note that one never came, with dates.
  • Get the full report and compare it with your own record.
  • Dispute any error in writing, and tell the employer the same day.
  • If the record is accurate, send your context while the decision is open.
  • Look up your state's fair chance rules and response deadline.

Sources

All checked on November 13, 2026. Rules change; the official page is the authority.

This is informational only, not legal advice.

Disclaimer: This is informational only, not legal advice. Laws and programs change and differ by state. Check the official source, or talk to a legal aid office or a lawyer, about your own situation.