Alabama background check laws for employers

At a glance

The Alabama rules on each topic, in one line. Federal law applies to every topic.

Sealed and expunged records

Who it covers: All employers; the expungement procedure binds courts and agencies.

In force since: July 7, 2014

Alabama has petition-based expungement under the Expungement of Records Act (Ala. Code 15-27-1 to 15-27-21); there is no automatic sealing. Eligible: misdemeanor, violation, traffic, or ordinance charges and felony charges that were dismissed with prejudice, no-billed, acquitted, or nolle prossed (after 90 days), dismissed after a drug court, diversion, or similar program (after one year), or dismissed without prejudice and not refiled (one year for misdemeanors, five years for felonies, with no new convictions). A misdemeanor conviction may be expunged three years after conviction once all probation and court-ordered amounts are complete, unless it is a violent, sex, moral-turpitude, or serious traffic offense. A felony conviction may be expunged only after a pardon with full restoration of civil and political rights plus 180 days, with the same exclusions. After expungement, the proceedings are deemed never to have occurred, courts and agencies must answer inquiries that no record exists, and the person need not disclose the record on an application for employment, credit, or other applications. The person must still disclose it to a government regulatory or licensing agency, a utility, or a bank or financial institution, which may inspect the file after notice to the court. Expunged records may also be disclosed to the Department of Human Resources to protect children or vulnerable adults, and to entities that provide information to banks, insurers, and other financial institutions as state and federal law require. An employer that hires or contracts with a person while unaware of a record because of expungement is immune from civil liability for the person’s acts, absent unreasonable, wanton, willful, or intentional conduct. Intentional, malicious disclosure of an expunged file is a Class B misdemeanor. Two other relief tools protect employers from negligent-hiring claims. An order of limited relief (12-26) from a circuit court lifts occupational-licensing consequences of a conviction; since October 1, 2025, if the employer knew of the order when it hired, the order gives the employer immunity from a negligent-hiring claim based on the conviction. The Board of Pardons and Paroles may issue a certificate of employability (15-22-24.1, from October 1, 2025) to people leaving prison custody, with the same employer immunity; violent and sex-registration offenses are ineligible.

Exceptions

• Duty to disclose survives for applications to a government regulatory or licensing agency, a utility and its agents and affiliates, or a bank or other financial institution (15-27-6(b)).
• District attorney and Office of Prosecution Services files, and Board of Pardons and Paroles investigation reports, are not expunged (15-27-6(a)).
• Expunged records may be disclosed to criminal justice agencies, utilities, the Department of Human Resources (child and vulnerable-adult protection), and entities providing information to banking, insurance, and other financial institutions as required by law (15-27-1(c)(1), 15-27-2(d)).
• Misdemeanor and pardoned-felony convictions are not expungeable if they are violent offenses (12-25-32), sex offenses (15-20A-5), moral-turpitude offenses (17-3-30.1), serious traffic offenses, or listed commercial-driver offenses (15-27-1(b), 15-27-2(c)).
• The limited-relief and certificate-of-employability immunity covers negligent hiring only, and only if the employer knew of the order or certificate when it hired (12-26-9(k), 15-22-24.1(e)(2)).

Ala. Code 15-27-6(b) · Ala. Code 15-27-6(b) · Ala. Code 15-27-16(c) · Ala. Code 15-27-1(b)(2) · Ala. Code 15-27-2(c)(1) · Ala. Code 15-27-1(c)(1)(d) · Ala. Code 12-26-9(k) · Ala. Code 15-22-24.1(e)(2)

Salary history questions

Who it covers: All employers, including the state and its political subdivisions.

Alabama does not ban salary-history questions. The Clarke-Figures Equal Pay Act bars an employer from refusing to interview, hire, promote, or employ an applicant, or retaliating against an applicant, because the applicant does not provide wage history. Wage history means wages paid by the applicant’s current or former employer. An employer may ask; it may not penalize a refusal to answer.

Ala. Code 25-1-30(c)

Cannabis use and testing

Who it covers: All Alabama employers.

No employment protection. The Darren Wesley ‘Ato’ Hall Compassion Act does not require an employer to permit or accommodate medical cannabis use, does not prohibit an employer from refusing to hire, discharging, or disciplining a person because of medical cannabis use regardless of impairment, does not limit drug-testing or drug-free workplace policies, allows employers to require notice of a medical cannabis card, and creates no right of action against an employer. A discharge for medical cannabis use or refusing a drug test is conclusively presumed to be for misconduct for unemployment purposes if Section 25-4-78 conditions are met. Alabama has no adult-use cannabis law. The chapter also does not limit an employer’s drug-testing policy or a drug-free workplace program under 25-5-330, does not affect federal employment restrictions such as DOT rules, and does not affect the workers’ compensation drug-free discount or the denial of benefits for a positive test or refusal (20-2A-6(a)(4)-(6), (9)-(10)).

Ala. Code 20-2A-6(a)(3) · Ala. Code 20-2A-6(a)(3) · Ala. Code 20-2A-6(a)(7)

Drug and alcohol testing procedures

Who it covers: Private employers that choose certification for the workers’ compensation discount.

In force since: July 1, 1996

Ala. Code 25-5-330 to 25-5-340 (Drug-Free Workplace Program) is voluntary. An employer that implements a program substantially in accordance with the article and is certified by the Department of Labor’s Workers’ Compensation Division earns a five percent workers’ compensation premium discount. To qualify, the employer must give all employees and job applicants a one-time notice of testing before testing, give employees a written policy statement covering the types of testing, the actions that may follow a positive confirmed test, the existence of the article, confidentiality, consequences of refusal, employee assistance resources, the right to contest or explain a positive confirmed result within five working days of written notice, and the federal Drug-Free Workplace Act if applicable. An employer starting a program must allow at least 60 days between the general notice and the start of testing. Vacancy announcements for tested positions must state that testing is required, and the policy must be posted and available for inspection. A qualifying program must test job applicants after extending an offer of employment (limited by reasonable job classifications), plus reasonable-suspicion, routine fitness-for-duty, follow-up, and post-injury testing. Employers outside the program remain free to test as they choose. Within five working days after a positive confirmed result, the employer must tell the employee or applicant in writing of the result, its consequences, and their options, and give a copy of the results on request. Initial positives must be confirmed, labs must be NIDA- or CAP-approved, and the employer pays for the tests it requires of employees. Reasonable-suspicion tests must be documented in writing and kept for at least one year.

Exceptions

• The article creates no duty to test and does not bar random or other lawful testing by private employers (25-5-334(c), 25-5-335(b)).
• Employers with a testing program before July 1, 1996 need not give the 60-day notice (25-5-334(b)).

Ala. Code 25-5-332(a) · Ala. Code 25-5-334(a) · Ala. Code 25-5-335(a)(1) · Ala. Code 25-5-335(c)(6)

The state consumer reporting law

Who it covers: Any employer or other requester that obtains a background check from ALEA through the Alabama Background Check Service. Reports from private consumer reporting agencies follow the federal FCRA only.

In force since: October 1, 2026

Alabama has no consumer reporting act. From October 1, 2026, Act 2026-374 (SB 118) created the Alabama Background Check Service (Ala. Code 41-9-650.1 to 41-9-650.5). ALEA may sell a state criminal background check to any public or private employer to screen a prospective employee or contractor. The subject must give express permission before ALEA releases the record, and the requester must keep that permission for three years or the length of the relationship, whichever is longer. A name-based search returns only Alabama records; a fingerprint search can add national records. No check may be run on a person under 18 without parental consent. A recipient may not pass the record to anyone else and may be audited by ALEA. Using a check for an unauthorized purpose, or running one without a required release, is a Class B misdemeanor.

Ala. Code 41-9-650.1(a)(1) · Ala. Code 41-9-650.1(b) · Ala. Code 41-9-650.1(f) · Ala. Code 41-9-650.5(b) · Ala. Code 41-9-650 (status note)

Where federal law alone applies

We found no Alabama rule for private employers on these topics. The FCRA and other federal laws still apply.

• Criminal history questions
• Limits on what a report includes
• Credit checks

Adverse action notices

Before you reject or act against someone because of a background check report, the FCRA requires a pre-adverse action notice, a wait, and then a final notice. The adverse action letter generator writes both notices and adds the Alabama requirements where they apply.

The waiting period calculator gives the date under the federal rule.

Paperwork at hire

Besides the federal Form I-9 and W-4, Alabama sets these for each new hire.

• State withholding. Collect a signed Alabama Form A-4 from each new hire on or before the first day of work. The federal W-4 does not count. Without an A-4, withhold with no exemptions. Send the department a copy of any A-4 that claims eight or more exemptions. Form A-4
• New hire report. Report each new hire to Alabama within 7 days. State new hire reporting
• Notices at hire. Alabama adds none beyond the federal forms that every employer gives.
• E-Verify. Enroll in E-Verify and verify every new employee through it, following the federal E-Verify rules (in force since April 1, 2012).

Build the new hire checklist for Alabama, with city rules, special cases and a due date for each item.

Sources

• Ala. Code 15-27-6(b)
• Ala. Code 15-27-16(c)
• Ala. Code 15-27-1(b)(2)
• Ala. Code 15-27-2(c)(1)
• Ala. Code 12-26-9(k)
• Ala. Code 15-22-24.1(e)(2)
• Ala. Code 25-1-30(c)
• Ala. Code 20-2A-6(a)(3)
• Ala. Code 25-5-332(a)
• Ala. Code 25-5-334(a)
• Ala. Code 25-5-335(a)(1)
• Ala. Code 41-9-650.1(a)(1)
• Ala. Code 41-9-650.5(b)
• Ala. Code 41-9-650 (status note)

Last reviewed October 20, 2026 · General information, not legal advice.

After the hire

Once a background check clears, payroll and onboarding come next. Rippling (paid link) runs payroll, benefits and onboarding from one employee record.