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Kelly Services
VerifiedYes. Kelly Services hires people with criminal records.
This employer states that a criminal record does not rule you out on its own. What we confirmed, and what we could not, is set out below.
One of the largest US staffing firms, placing workers in light industrial, office, and technical roles nationwide.
What we confirmed
Each line is one thing we checked, what it means for your application, and the document it came from.
Public commitment One Signed up to Second Chance Business Coalition. A pledge is a public statement, not a guarantee about any single application. Jails to Jobs, Second Chance Employers Network · read September 3, 2026
Who you would work for A staffing agency They place you with client companies, so the agency may be open to you while an individual client site sets its own rules. Ask the recruiter which sites are fair-chance friendly. Jails to Jobs, Second Chance Employers Network · read September 3, 2026
How to apply
Register on the Kelly careers site or with a local branch; ask a recruiter about fair-chance-friendly client sites in your area.
Which roles are closed to you
A company willing to hire you can still be forbidden by law to put you in a particular job. None of these are Kelly Services's decision, and none of them are a reason not to apply for the work that is open.
Bank job where the conviction was small or old Open Many convictions people assume close banking forever are written into the rules as too small to count, and no application to the FDIC is needed at all.
Checking a Pennsylvania license before you pay for training Open In Pennsylvania you can ask a licensing board in advance whether your record would block a license, before you spend anything on a training program.
Eldercare work in Pennsylvania with an old conviction Open Pennsylvania's lifetime ban on eldercare work for people with certain convictions was struck down in 2015 and cannot be enforced, so your record there is weighed case by case.
Airport ramp, baggage, fueling, or terminal worker (SIDA badge) Restricted Working in the secure part of an airport takes a badge, and 28 listed offenses block it if you were convicted within the last ten years. The list runs from air piracy, murder, and espionage to armed or felony unarmed robbery, extortion, felony arson, distribution of a controlled substance, and any felony involving theft, burglary, willful destruction of property, aggravated assault, bribery, possession of stolen property, or dishonesty, fraud, or misrepresentation. It only reaches back ten years from the date you apply, so an older conviction does not count, and an arrest with no conviction is not disqualifying. The airport operator makes the call, must tell you the FBI record is why, must give you a copy of it if you ask, and must give you 30 days to correct it if it is wrong. 49 CFR 1542.209(d) · checked September 17, 2026
Bank teller or any job at an FDIC-insured bank Restricted A bank cannot put you to work if you have a conviction for dishonesty, breach of trust, or money laundering, but a 2024 change pulled most older, younger, and minor offenses off that list completely. Congress rewrote this in the Fair Hiring in Banking Act and the FDIC rule carrying it out took effect October 1, 2024, so guidance written before then is out of date. The bar no longer reaches an offense that happened seven or more years ago, or one you were incarcerated for and were released from five or more years ago, or one you committed at 21 or younger where more than 30 months have passed since sentencing. Drug possession, including possession with intent to distribute, is no longer treated as dishonesty at all; expunged, sealed, or dismissed convictions and youthful offender adjudications do not count; and small matters are exempt outright, including bad checks totaling $2,000 or less, simple theft of $1,225 or less, shoplifting, fake identification, trespassing, fare evasion, and driving with an expired license or tag. Anything still covered is not a permanent no: you or the bank file a consent application with the FDIC, except for a short list of federal bank fraud and money laundering offenses that carry a ten-year minimum only a sentencing court can shorten. 12 CFR 303.222 · checked September 17, 2026
Credit union employee Restricted Credit unions run under their own version of the bank rule, with the same time limits, and the National Credit Union Administration is the agency that has to consent. The statute bars a person convicted of a criminal offense involving dishonesty or breach of trust, or who entered a pretrial diversion program for one, from taking part in the affairs of an insured credit union without the NCUA Board's written consent. The Fair Hiring in Banking Act applied the same exceptions here that it applied to banks: offenses seven or more years old, release from incarceration five or more years ago, offenses committed at 21 or younger where more than 30 months have passed since sentencing, expunged or sealed records, and de minimis offenses the agency defines by rule. A ten-year minimum still applies to the same list of federal bank fraud and money laundering offenses. 12 U.S.C. 1785(d) · checked September 17, 2026
Mortgage loan originator Restricted Any felony in the seven years before you apply blocks a mortgage originator license, and a fraud, dishonesty, breach of trust, or money laundering felony blocks it no matter how long ago it was. This is a federal floor written into the SAFE Act, and every state applies it through the national licensing registry. Two separate tests apply: no felony conviction or guilty or no contest plea in the seven years before your application, and no felony at any time in the past that involved fraud, dishonesty, breach of trust, or money laundering. A prior loan originator license revocation also disqualifies you, and the state regulator runs the fingerprint check and makes the decision. 12 U.S.C. 5104(b) · checked September 17, 2026
Insurance agent or any job at an insurance company Restricted A felony involving dishonesty or breach of trust keeps you out of insurance work unless your state insurance regulator gives you written consent, and that consent is a real and routine path. The federal statute makes it a crime to work in or take part in the business of insurance after a felony conviction involving dishonesty or breach of trust, and it makes it a crime for the company to knowingly let that happen. The statute also writes the way back in: you may work in insurance if you hold written consent from an insurance regulatory official authorized to regulate the insurer, and the consent has to name this subsection. The reach is broad, covering officers, directors, agents, employees, and others authorized to act for an insurer, so it is not limited to licensed producers. 18 U.S.C. 1033(e) · checked September 17, 2026
Any job at a provider that bills Medicare or Medicaid Restricted If you are on the federal exclusion list, Medicare and Medicaid will not pay for anything you do for a provider, which is why hospitals and nursing homes screen every role and not just the clinical ones. Exclusion is mandatory, and at least five years, for four kinds of conviction: a crime related to delivering care under Medicare or a state health program, any conviction for patient abuse or neglect including a misdemeanor, a felony conviction for health care fraud, theft, embezzlement, or breach of fiduciary duty, and a felony conviction for making, distributing, prescribing, or dispensing a controlled substance. A second qualifying conviction raises the minimum to ten years and a third makes it permanent. Other convictions, such as a misdemeanor drug offense or fraud against a government program that is not health care, are permissive, which means the Inspector General may exclude you, usually for three years, but is not required to. Exclusion is a payment rule rather than a hiring ban, so an employer that does not bill a federal health program can still hire you. 42 U.S.C. 1320a-7 · checked September 17, 2026
Non-clinical healthcare work while excluded (billing, IT, kitchen, HR) Exclusion is not limited to hands-on patient care, and the government says it reaches administrative, kitchen, IT, and management work at a provider that bills federal health programs. The Inspector General has said in writing that the payment ban covers services well beyond direct care, naming executive and leadership roles, human resources, billing and accounting, strategic planning, staff training, health information technology, and support work like preparing surgical trays, whether or not the work is separately billed. It applies the same way to employees, contractors, volunteers, and staffing agency placements, and it follows you if you change professions while excluded. The one opening the agency itself recognizes is work a federal health program does not pay for directly or indirectly, which is why cash-pay and non-billing employers are a real option. OIG Special Advisory Bulletin (May 8, 2013) · checked September 17, 2026
Nurse aide, CNA, or any job in a nursing home A nursing home may not employ you in any role if a state registry carries a finding of abuse, neglect, exploitation, mistreatment, or theft from a resident against your name. This is separate from a criminal record and separate from the federal exclusion list. A state survey agency enters the finding after its own investigation and a hearing, with no arrest, charge, or conviction required, and findings of abuse and misappropriation stay on the registry permanently. Only a neglect finding can be petitioned off, and no sooner than one year after it was entered. The same rule separately bars anyone a court has found guilty of those acts and anyone with matching license discipline in effect, and it reaches every individual the facility employs, not only aides. 42 CFR 483.12(a)(3) · checked September 17, 2026
Pharmacy or clinic job with access to controlled substances A DEA-registered pharmacy or practice may not employ you in any position with access to controlled substances if you have a felony conviction relating to controlled substances. The rule is written as a flat prohibition on the employer, with no lookback and no time limit, and it reaches any agent or employee who has access rather than only the licensed pharmacist. It applies the same way if your own DEA registration was denied or revoked, or if you surrendered one for cause, meaning in the face of an investigation into how you handled controlled substances. Pharmacy and clinic work that does not involve access to the controlled substance stock, and health care employers that are not DEA registrants, sit outside this rule. 21 CFR 1301.76(a) · checked September 17, 2026
Pharmacy technician Restricted Pharmacy technicians are registered or licensed state by state, and in Pennsylvania a conviction is weighed against the actual job instead of triggering an automatic no. Pennsylvania started registering pharmacy technicians on June 28, 2025 and required registration to keep working as one by June 28, 2026. State law there bars licensing boards from denying anyone for good moral character or moral turpitude and makes them run a two-stage test instead: whether your offense is on the board's published list of directly related offenses, and if it is, whether you rebut a presumption of risk with evidence of rehabilitation. The old blanket felony drug bar in the practice acts now reaches only drug trafficking offenses defined by weight, such as at least 50 pounds of marijuana or at least 100 grams of a Schedule I or II narcotic, so a smaller drug felony no longer triggers it. A crime of violence can still be licensed three years after release with evidence of rehabilitation, while a sexual offense conviction is a permanent bar for health care practitioners. Other states set their own rules and several are far stricter, so read yours. 63 Pa.C.S. § 3113 (Pennsylvania) · checked September 17, 2026
Child care worker at a licensed or subsidized program Nine felony categories close child care work at a licensed or subsidized program for good, and a felony drug conviction is the only one that stops counting after five years. This is a condition every state has to meet to keep its federal child care funding, and it reaches staff at any provider the state licenses, regulates, or registers, or that accepts child care subsidy. The permanent felony list is murder, child abuse or neglect, a crime against children including child pornography, spousal abuse, rape or sexual assault, kidnapping, arson, and physical assault or battery, and a violent misdemeanor committed as an adult against a child or any misdemeanor involving child pornography also disqualifies you, as does being on a sex offender registry or refusing or lying on the check. A felony drug offense is the only item with a time limit, five years, and the only one a state is allowed to review and clear. States may add offenses of their own and most do, and care that is neither licensed nor subsidized sits outside this federal floor. 45 CFR 98.43(c) · checked September 17, 2026
School employee with direct contact with students Restricted No federal law decides who can work in a public school, so which convictions disqualify you and for how long is set entirely by your state. Pennsylvania shows the shape most states use: a permanent list plus tiers that expire. There, homicide, aggravated assault, kidnapping, sexual offenses, endangering the welfare of children, corruption of minors, and any felony under the state drug act bar you for life, while any other first, second, or third degree felony bars you for ten years from the end of your sentence, a first degree misdemeanor for five years, and repeat DUI graded as a first degree misdemeanor for three years. The rule covers cafeteria workers, janitors, bus drivers, and contractors, and it does not reach employees with no direct contact with children. Pennsylvania treats a felony drug conviction as a lifetime bar, which is the opposite of how federal child care rules treat it, so do not assume one state answers for another. 24 P.S. § 1-111 (Pa. Public School Code, Act 14 of 1949) · checked September 17, 2026
Home care aide, personal care home, or assisted living worker Restricted There is no national list of convictions that closes eldercare work, because the federal program paying for these background checks lets each state write its own list. The National Background Check Program is a grant that states opt into, and the statute says a participating state specifies the disqualifying offenses itself. It does require any participating state to run an independent appeal that weighs how much time has passed, extenuating circumstances, evidence of rehabilitation, and how relevant the record is to the job, and it allows provisional employment for up to 60 days under direct on-site supervision. Two federal bars still sit on top of the state list: exclusion from Medicare and Medicaid, and the nursing home rule on abuse findings. 42 U.S.C. 1320a-7l · checked September 17, 2026
Any job that puts a firearm or ammunition in your hands If you have a conviction for a crime punishable by more than a year in prison, federal law makes it a crime for you to possess or receive a firearm or ammunition, and that quietly closes more jobs than people expect. This is a bar on possession rather than on any named occupation, but it reaches every duty that puts a gun or a box of ammunition in your hands: a sporting goods counter, a warehouse aisle that stocks ammunition, armed security, parts of some manufacturing lines. Federal law separately makes it a crime for anyone to sell or hand over a firearm or ammunition to a person they know or have reason to believe is prohibited, which is why licensed dealers are careful about which roles they fill. The definition leaves out business regulation offenses such as antitrust, and leaves out state misdemeanors punishable by two years or less. An expungement, a set aside, a pardon, or a restoration of civil rights takes the conviction back out unless the order itself says your firearm rights are not restored. 18 U.S.C. 922(g)(1) · checked September 17, 2026
Armed security guard Restricted Armed security is licensed state by state, and the federal firearms bar applies on top of whatever your state decides. Pennsylvania is one worked example: a conviction for any of twelve named crimes of violence, including murder, rape, aggravated assault, robbery, burglary, kidnapping, arson, recklessly endangering another person, and terroristic threats, categorically blocks certification, while any other conviction only may block it and the decision can be appealed. The state card does not give you any right to carry a firearm that state or federal law otherwise denies you, so the federal bar operates independently. California runs it the other way, as a discretionary fitness review, and state law there generally limits denials to convictions substantially related to the work and within seven years, with no denial permitted on a dismissed conviction, a pardon, a certificate of rehabilitation, or an arrest that led to no conviction. Your own state will differ, so read its rule rather than either of these. Pa. Lethal Weapons Training Act, Act 235 of 1974 · checked September 17, 2026
Unarmed guard at a contract security company Restricted Pennsylvania has no statewide license for unarmed guards, but a licensed guard company there may not knowingly employ anyone with a felony in any capacity, and only an executive pardon lifts that. This is a rule aimed at the employer rather than a license you apply for, and it covers a felony plus a list of other offenses including weapons offenses, receiving stolen property, unlawful entry of a building, narcotics distribution, recklessly endangering another person, terroristic threats, and simple assault. The company faces a fine and can lose its license over it, which is why contract guard firms screen hard even for posts with no weapon. The same act exempts security staff employed directly and exclusively by the business being protected, so in-house security is a separate and more open lane than a guard agency. Other states handle unarmed guards differently, several of them through a license you apply for yourself, so treat this as one example rather than a national rule. Private Detective Act of 1953 (Pa.), Act 361, § 13(a) · checked September 17, 2026
Federal job or federal contractor role needing a background investigation Restricted A record does not close federal work, and criminal conduct is one of ten factors the government weighs rather than a list of crimes that disqualify you. There is no schedule of disqualifying offenses in this rule. The decision maker has to consider the nature of the position, how serious the conduct was, the circumstances around it, how recent it was, how old you were at the time, contributing conditions, and whether you have been rehabilitated. A hard bar only applies where some separate law independently forbids employing you in that specific position. The rule was rewritten effective December 2024 and amended again in June 2026, so older explanations of federal suitability may not match the current text. 5 CFR 731.202 · checked September 17, 2026
Where they hire
These are the places we can name. We are building a real location list so this can answer "near me" properly.
Troy, Michigan Location A site we can name for this employer.
Your rights in Michigan
Michigan banned the box for state government jobs only, and state law blocks Michigan cities from protecting you at a private employer.
How this entry can change
If you have applied here and what happened does not match what this page says, tell us and we will check it again. Corrections go to our reviewers, not to the employer, and we publish what changes. Report a problem.
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