Jobs for Felons in Florida

We found no statewide ban-the-box law in Florida, for public or private employers. Private employers can ask about your record on the application.

Gainesville goes further. Private employers with 15 or more employees working in the city cannot ask about your record, on the application or through a background check, until after a conditional job offer. They cannot post “no felons” style language, and before turning you down over your record they must look at you individually and tell you in writing. Miami Beach passed an ordinance in 2016 saying the city will not ask about your record, or ask to run a background check, for its own jobs until after a conditional offer.

For state, county and city government jobs, Florida law says you may not be disqualified solely because of a past conviction. A public employer can say no only if the crime was a felony or first-degree misdemeanor and directly related to the job. Law enforcement and corrections agencies are not covered, and neither are firefighter hiring or county and city jobs marked critical to security or public safety. This law does not stop a public employer from asking.

The same rule covers licenses: a board may deny a license over a conviction only if the crime was a felony or first-degree misdemeanor directly related to that work.

For barber, cosmetology and many construction contractor licenses, plus other licenses taught in prison vocational programs, a conviction more than 5 years before you apply cannot be the reason for a denial, except for certain listed violent and sex offenses. You can apply before you are released, and these boards must publish a list of crimes that do not disqualify you.

Under federal law, a background check company can report a conviction no matter how old it is. Arrests that did not lead to a conviction drop off after seven years (the limits do not apply to jobs paying $75,000 a year or more). We found no Florida law that shortens that for convictions.

Federal EEOC guidance from 2012 warns employers that blanket “no felons” policies can violate civil rights law (Title VII). Since April 2025 a federal executive order has told agencies to deprioritize this kind of case, so do not count on the EEOC to investigate. The guidance is still a useful script when you talk to an employer.

Florida sealing and expunction are narrow. You generally cannot seal or expunge a record if you have ever been adjudicated guilty of a crime in Florida. They are mainly for cases where adjudication was withheld, or charges were dropped, dismissed or ended in acquittal. Some offenses are excluded entirely. It is generally once in a lifetime (a record sealed for 10 years can later be expunged).

You start by applying to FDLE for a Certificate of Eligibility ($75 fee unless waived), then you petition the court. FDLE says processing typically takes about 12 weeks.

Once a record is sealed, you may lawfully deny the arrest to most private employers. Not for every job: criminal justice agencies, schools and child care, and jobs with direct contact with children, the disabled or the elderly under certain state agencies can still ask, among others.