Jobs for Felons in Massachusetts

Massachusetts ban the box reaches private employers too. An employer cannot ask about your criminal record on its first written job application. The exceptions are jobs where a law automatically or presumptively disqualifies people with certain convictions, and employers that a law bars from hiring people with certain convictions.

These rules apply to most employers with 6 or more employees, including the state and local governments. After the application, an employer can generally ask about felony convictions.

At any point in hiring, most employers cannot ask about, keep a record of, or use:

• an arrest or case that did not end in a conviction;
• a first conviction for drunkenness, simple assault, speeding, minor traffic violations, affray or disturbing the peace;
• a misdemeanor conviction 3 or more years old (counted from conviction or release, whichever is later), as long as you have had no new conviction in the last 3 years;
• a sealed or expunged record.

You cannot be charged with lying for leaving out something the law lets you hold back. Juvenile records are also off limits unless the case was tried in adult Superior Court.

An employer cannot make you bring in a copy of your own record (your CORI). If it checks your record through the state system, it needs your written permission first.

If an employer has your record, it must give you a copy before it asks you about it, and again if it turns you down because of it. Employers that run 5 or more checks a year must have a written policy that tells you about a possible no, gives you the record and the policy, and explains how to fix a wrong record. The law does not stop an employer from saying no over a record, but it gives you the chance to catch mistakes and explain.

When an employer checks your record through the state CORI system, it generally sees felony convictions for 10 years and misdemeanor convictions for 5 years, counted from the end of the case including any time locked up, plus pending charges. A newer conviction keeps the older ones visible for as long as the newer one is. Murder, manslaughter and some sex-offense convictions stay visible permanently unless sealed.

Massachusetts law has a 7-year limit on paper: it bars a background check company from reporting an arrest or conviction more than 7 years old, counted from disposition, release or parole. But federal law puts no time limit on reporting convictions, and federal law may override the state limit, so expect older convictions to show up on some private checks. If one does, ask legal aid whether you have a claim.

You can ask the Commissioner of Probation to seal a misdemeanor 3 years after conviction or release from jail or prison, whichever is later, and a felony after 7 years, if you have had no new conviction in that time. There is no fee.

Some records wait longer or cannot be sealed. For example, some sex offenses wait 15 years, and people ever classified as level 2 or 3 sex offenders cannot seal sex offenses.

Once a record is sealed, you can answer “no record” on a job, housing or license application that asks about arrests, court appearances or convictions, and the state reports “no record exists” to employers who ask. Law enforcement, courts and some licensing and child-care agencies can still see sealed records.

Cases that ended in not guilty, no bill or no probable cause are sealed automatically. If your case was dismissed or the prosecutor dropped it (nolle prosequi), you can ask the court where the case started to seal it.

Expungement destroys the record instead of hiding it, and it is narrow. Under the statute, time-based expungement is only for offenses committed before your 21st birthday, with no more than 2 records, 3 years after a misdemeanor or 7 years after a felony. Many offenses are excluded, including OUI, offenses causing death or serious injury, armed offenses, sex offenses, restraining-order violations and felony crimes against the person.

At any age, a record can be expunged if it came from identity theft or a false ID, an offense that is no longer a crime (such as small amounts of marijuana), or errors or fraud by police, witnesses or court staff. After expungement you can say you have no record. Check whether this applies to you with legal aid before you file.

The Attorney General's office says employers that automatically reject everyone with a record may be breaking civil rights laws, and should look at each person: the offense, how long ago it was, rehabilitation, work history and references. You can file a complaint with the AG's Civil Rights Division or with the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination (MCAD).

Federal EEOC guidance from 2012 warns employers that blanket “no felons” policies can violate Title VII, but since April 2025 a federal executive order has told agencies to deprioritize this kind of case. In Massachusetts, the state rules above (ban the box, the list of things employers cannot ask, and sealing) do most of the work.