Which jobs are closed by law, and which only feel closed.
A company can be genuinely willing to hire you and still be forbidden to put you in a specific job. Those rules come from federal regulators and state licensing boards, not from the employer, and knowing which is which saves you weeks. Most work is open.
Open. No gate at all.
People screen themselves out of these every day. There is no federal or state bar on any of them.
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. No filing is required if you have no more than two covered offenses, each carried a possible sentence of three years or less or a fine of $3,500 or less, you actually served three days or less of jail time on each, neither was against a bank or credit union, and, if there are two, each was entered at least three years ago, or 18 months ago if you were 21 or younger. Separate exemptions cover bad checks totaling $2,000 or less where no bank was the payee, simple theft of $1,225 or less that was not burglary, forgery, robbery, identity theft, or fraud, and fake identification, shoplifting, trespassing, fare evasion, or driving with an expired license or tag once a year has passed. None of these exemptions apply to the federal bank fraud and money laundering offenses that carry the ten-year minimum.
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. You file a petition for preliminary review with the board, separately from any application, and the board has 45 days to answer. The answer tells you whether a conviction on your record falls within the set the board has already decided may be directly related to that occupation. It is not final and not binding, so even a yes leaves you free to apply and put rehabilitation evidence in front of the board, and the notice has to tell you that.
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. The Commonwealth Court held the disqualification list in the Older Adults Protective Services Act unconstitutional on its face, enjoined the state from enforcing it, and the Commonwealth chose not to appeal. The background check itself is still required, and the Department of Aging tells covered facilities to make an individual assessment of the nature of the crime, the facts around it, how much time has passed, evidence of rehabilitation, and what the job involves. The legislature has not rewritten the provision since, so this has been the position in Pennsylvania since December 30, 2015. This is a state ruling and does not change any federal bar or any other state's law.
Retail sales associate or cashier Open No law closes general retail work to you, and an employer that rejects everyone with a record is the one taking a legal risk. There is no license and no federal criminal bar for stocking, selling, or running a register. Federal guidance says a blanket exclusion based on conviction records can violate Title VII unless the employer can connect the offense to the job through what the crime was, how long ago it happened, and what the work involves. If a screening company ran the check, the Fair Credit Reporting Act requires the employer to give you a copy of the report and a chance to dispute it before turning you down. Selling firearms or ammunition is the one retail job with a separate federal problem, covered on its own below.
Warehouse associate, picker, packer, or forklift operator Open Warehouse and fulfillment work is open, and a forklift certification is a training record your employer issues, not a license a state can deny over your history. OSHA requires your employer to train and evaluate you before you operate a powered industrial truck, and the rule contains no criminal history condition of any kind. The certification stays with the employer and no licensing board is involved. The exceptions are warehouses inside a port facility, which need a TWIC, and cargo areas inside an airport perimeter, which need a badge.
Cook, food prep, dishwasher, or server Open Kitchen and restaurant work is open, and the health rules that govern food workers are about illness and hygiene, not about your record. The FDA Food Code, which most states adopt in some form, restricts or excludes a food worker only for named illnesses and symptoms. A food handler card is a short training course and a test, not a license with a background check attached. Pouring alcohol is a separate state matter and a few states attach conditions to a server or bartender permit, so check your own state rather than assuming it works the same way.
Construction laborer, helper, or apprentice Open General construction labor is open, and the cards people ask for on a jobsite are safety training, not licenses that screen your history. OSHA requires the employer to train you to recognize and avoid unsafe conditions, and the construction standards set no criminal history condition. An OSHA 10 or OSHA 30 card is proof that you sat a class. Two things sit outside this: licensed trades such as electrician or plumber are regulated state by state and some states do weigh convictions, and work on a military base, an airport, or a port carries its own access screening.
Farm worker, crop hand, or livestock worker Open Farm work is open, and the one federal training requirement for handling pesticides is a class your employer provides with no criminal history condition. The EPA Worker Protection Standard requires your employer to train you before you handle a pesticide product and to retrain you every twelve months. Nothing in that rule asks about a conviction. Hauling product on public roads in a commercial vehicle brings in the commercial driving rules above, and a few states attach conditions to a commercial pesticide applicator license, which is a separate credential from handler training.
Restricted, and by whom
Each one names the rule it comes from. Where something is set by a state board it varies, and this says so rather than pretending there is a single national answer.
Delivery or truck driver (CDL) Restricted A DUI or a drug conviction involving a vehicle can disqualify you from driving commercially, for one year or for life depending on the offense. A first conviction for driving under the influence of alcohol or a controlled substance, refusing a breath test, leaving the scene, causing a death through negligent driving, or using any vehicle to commit a felony takes you off commercial vehicles for one year, or three years if you were hauling placarded hazardous materials. A second conviction for any combination of those offenses is a lifetime disqualification, though a state may reinstate you after ten years if you complete a state-approved rehabilitation program. Using a commercial vehicle to commit a felony involving manufacturing, distributing, or dispensing a controlled substance, or a severe human trafficking felony, is a lifetime bar with no ten-year reinstatement. Your state licensing agency applies this, not the carrier. 49 CFR 383.51 · applies to transportation and cdl, warehouse and logistics, construction and trades, manufacturing · checked September 17, 2026
Box truck or straight truck driver (no CDL) Restricted Even without a CDL, a DUI or a drug offense while you were on duty in a commercial vehicle can take you off the road for six months to three years. This rule covers any driver of a commercial motor vehicle in interstate work, including smaller trucks that need no CDL. The disqualifying offenses are driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs, refusing a required test, transporting, possessing, or using Schedule I drugs, amphetamines, or narcotics while on duty, leaving the scene, and any felony involving the use of a commercial vehicle. The offense has to have happened during on-duty time; a first offense is one year, or six months if it only involved transporting or possessing those substances, and three years if you had another disqualifying conviction in the three years before. 49 CFR 391.15 · applies to transportation and cdl, warehouse and logistics, construction and trades, manufacturing · checked September 17, 2026
Hazmat driver (CDL hazmat endorsement) Restricted A hazmat endorsement runs through a TSA security check, and a set list of serious felonies blocks it, some for good and some only while they are recent. TSA uses one offense list for hazmat endorsements and TWIC cards. Twelve are permanent: espionage, sedition, treason, a federal crime of terrorism, a crime causing a transportation security incident, improper transport of hazardous materials, explosives offenses, murder, bomb threats, certain RICO convictions, and attempts or conspiracies to commit them. Fifteen more are interim, meaning they only count if you were convicted within seven years of the date you apply or were released from incarceration for them within five years, and they include drug distribution, robbery, extortion, arson, kidnapping, assault with intent to kill, immigration violations, smuggling, bribery, firearms offenses, and felony dishonesty or fraud. TSA decides, you can appeal a mistake in the record, and you can request a waiver for every offense except espionage, sedition, treason, and terrorism. 49 CFR 1572.103 · applies to transportation and cdl, manufacturing, agriculture and farm work · checked September 17, 2026
Port, dock, or maritime worker (TWIC card) Restricted A TWIC card is what gets you into a port or onto a vessel, and TSA uses the same offense list it uses for hazmat, with most of it timing out after seven years. Twelve permanent disqualifying felonies cover espionage, sedition, treason, terrorism, a transportation security incident, improper hazmat transport, explosives, murder, bomb threats, and certain RICO convictions. The other fifteen are interim and only disqualify you if the conviction came within seven years of your application or you were released from incarceration within five years, which means an older robbery, drug distribution, arson, or fraud conviction drops out on its own. Being wanted or under indictment for a listed felony holds up the card until the warrant clears or the indictment is dismissed, and you can request a waiver for any interim offense and for most of the permanent list. 49 CFR 1572.103 · applies to warehouse and logistics, transportation and cdl, construction and trades, manufacturing · checked September 17, 2026
Appealing a TWIC or hazmat denial Restricted If TSA turns down your TWIC or hazmat endorsement over a conviction, you can ask for a waiver, and the request is decided on your record since the offense. You have until 60 days after TSA serves the final determination to send a written waiver request, and you can ask during the application instead of waiting. TSA weighs the circumstances of the offense, restitution you made, any state or federal mitigation such as a pardon or expungement, and anything else showing you are not a security threat, then answers in writing within 60 days. Waivers are available for every interim offense and for the permanent offenses other than espionage, sedition, treason, and a federal crime of terrorism. 49 CFR 1515.7 · applies to transportation and cdl, warehouse and logistics, construction and trades · checked September 17, 2026
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) · applies to transportation and cdl, warehouse and logistics, hospitality, food service, staffing agencies · 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 · applies to office and administrative, staffing agencies, technology · 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) · applies to office and administrative, staffing agencies, technology · 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) · applies to office and administrative, staffing agencies · 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) · applies to office and administrative, staffing agencies, technology · 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 · applies to healthcare support, staffing agencies, office and administrative, food service · 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) · applies to healthcare support, office and administrative, technology, food service, staffing agencies · 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) · applies to healthcare support, staffing agencies, food service · 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) · applies to healthcare support, retail, staffing agencies · 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) · applies to healthcare support, retail, staffing agencies · 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) · applies to healthcare support, staffing agencies · 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) · applies to food service, office and administrative, staffing agencies, transportation and cdl · 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 · applies to healthcare support, staffing agencies · 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) · applies to retail, warehouse and logistics, manufacturing, staffing agencies, construction and trades · 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 · applies to staffing agencies, retail, hospitality, office and administrative, construction and trades · 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) · applies to staffing agencies, retail, hospitality, office and administrative, construction and trades · 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 · applies to technology, office and administrative, staffing agencies · checked September 17, 2026
Read this before you rule yourself out
Almost every rule here has a clock on it, and several were narrowed recently. A bar that applied to you three years ago may not apply now. Where a rule turns on how long ago something happened, check the date against today rather than against the last time someone told you no. Nothing on this page is legal advice, and a lawyer or a reentry legal clinic can tell you how it lands on your specific record.