Jobs for Felons in Illinois

Private employers with 15 or more employees, and employment agencies, cannot ask about or consider your criminal record until you are found qualified and picked for an interview. If there is no interview, they have to wait until after a conditional job offer.

Exceptions: jobs where federal or state law requires excluding people with certain convictions, jobs that need a fidelity bond your conviction would block, and jobs licensed under the EMS Systems Act. Employers may tell you in writing which offenses disqualify you. The Illinois Department of Labor enforces this law.

Not just for having one. Under the Illinois Human Rights Act, using a conviction record against you is a civil rights violation unless the offense has a “substantial relationship” to the job, or hiring you would be an “unreasonable risk” to people or property. This covers almost every Illinois employer: anyone with one or more employees in Illinois for 20 or more weeks, plus all state and local government employers.

The employer has to weigh six things: how long ago it was, how many convictions, how serious and how it relates to safety, the circumstances, your age at the time, and your rehabilitation.

Before a final “no” because of your record, the employer must tell you in writing, give you a copy of the report, and give you at least 5 business days to respond with proof the record is wrong or proof of rehabilitation. Use that window. A final “no” must be in writing and tell you that you can file a charge. You have 2 years to file with the Illinois Department of Human Rights.

Employers cannot ask about or use arrests that did not lead to a conviction, juvenile records, or records that were sealed or expunged. The exception: some jobs where a law requires a background check may use sealed felony convictions from the State Police.

Under federal law, a background check company can report a conviction no matter how old it is, and we found no Illinois law that shortens that. But an Illinois employer still cannot use an old conviction against you unless it passes the Human Rights Act test above.

Most felony convictions can be sealed 3 years after your last sentence ends. Misdemeanor convictions, and convictions where you finished probation or conditional discharge without a revocation, can be sealed after 2 years. That 2-year rule took effect June 1, 2026. Arrests with no conviction and dismissals can be sealed any time.

Some records can never be sealed, including DUI, sex offenses against minors and most other sex offenses, some battery and domestic battery offenses, and animal cruelty offenses under the Humane Care for Animals Act.

Automatic sealing is coming: starting January 1, 2029, the Illinois State Police will seal many eligible records without anyone filing a petition. Many serious offenses are left out, and it depends on state funding. If you need a job now, do not wait for it. Illinois Legal Aid Online has free forms: expunging or sealing a record.

For professional licenses from IDFPR, unless a specific licensing law bars your offense, the Department must weigh whether the conviction directly relates to the license, your rehabilitation, and whether 5 years since a felony conviction or 3 years since release have passed without a new conviction.

Illinois courts can issue a Certificate of Relief from Disabilities or a Certificate of Good Conduct, which can lift employment and licensing bars. They do not hide or erase the record.

Chicago has its own version. The Chicago Commission on Human Relations' 2023 ordinance booklet shows the city bars employers from using arrest records, and from using a conviction record unless it passes the same kind of test (substantial relationship or unreasonable risk), with written notice and at least 5 business days to respond. Complaints go to the Commission.

Starting January 1, 2027, employers with 15 or more employees cannot say a job needs a driver's license unless driving is an essential part of the job and a business necessity, and they must explain why when it is. That matters if your license is suspended or revoked.